PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


S/iel/.. 


BS  2415  .A2  B7  1882 
The  Galilean  gospel 


m^mm 


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^be  Iboueebolb  Xibran?  of  lEyposition- 


THE    GALILEAN    GOSPEL. 


THE 


GALILEAN   GOSPEL 


BY 


ALEXANDER  BALMAIN  BRUCE,  D.D., 

PROFESSOR  OF   APOU3GET1CS    AND    NEW   TESTAMENT    EXEGESIS,    FREE   CHURCH 
COLLEGE,  GLASGOW. 


NEW   YORK:    MACMILLAN    &    CO. 


I  882 


PR 


./ 


PREFACE. 

This  book  is  not  a  miscellaneous  collection  of  sermons, 
gleaned  from  a  ministry  of  sixteen  years,  and  strung 
together  by  a  catching  title.  It  is  intended  to  serve  a 
definite  purpose,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  contents  has 
been  written  expressly  for  this  publication.  My  aim  has 
been  to  convey  as  vivid  an  idea  as  possible  of  the  Gospel 
Christ  preached,  and  above  all  of  the  evangelic  spirit  as 
reflected  in  His  teaching  and  life.  I  believe  that  this  will 
meet  a  want  of  our  time,  and  will  be  welcomed  by  many. 
While  there  is  little  in  the  actual  Christianity  of  our  day, 
or  in  the  state  of  the  churches  to  awaken  enthusiasm,  it 
is  rest-giving  to  go  back  to  the  beginning  of  the  Chris- 
tian era,  and  drink  of  the  pure  wells  of  truth  opened  in 
Galilee  in  the  days  of  the  Son  of  Man.  Reflecting  on  the 
baleful  controversies  of  centuries,  and  the  tragic  divi- 
sions resulting  therefrom,  on  the  theological  schools  and 
their  conflicting  oracles,  the  sigh  involuntarily  escapes 
from  the  breast,  "  Oh  that  I  had  wings  like  a  dove,  that 
I  might  fly  away  to  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  and  forget  the 
windy  storms  of  human  opinions  and  passions  !"  He 
does  not  disappoint  the  weary  heart.  In  His  teaching  is 
eternal  wisdom  ;  in  Himself,  perennial  beauty.  What 
one  has  found  he  will  desire  to  communicate  to  others,  in 
the  belief  that  it  must  be  good  for  all  to  know  the  authen- 
tic Gospel  preached  in  Galilee,  and  the  type  of  piety  ex- 
emplified by  the  Preacher.  Here,  as  in  all  things,  Jesus 
must  be  the  model.  Attempts  may  legitimately  be  made 
to  define,  by  historical  examples,  the  characteristics  of 
evangelical  religion  ;  but  the  surest  and  most  direct  road 
to  this  knowledge  is  to  study  the  words  and  ways  of  Him 
who,  just  because  He  is  at  the  fountain-head  anterior  to 


/ 
Vi  PREFACE.  ^ 

all  divisions,  is  apt  to  be  overlooked  in  our  theological 
definitions  and  historic  studies.  It  is  well  to  remember 
whence  the  term  evangelic  comes.  It  is  forrhed  from  the 
Greek  name  for  the  Gospels  :  to.  evayy^Xia,  ihe  Evangels. 
The  Evangels  or  Gospels  have  for  their  burthen  the  minis- 
try of  Christ.  That  ministry  is  the  gospel  in  its  purity 
and  Divine  poetic  simplicity.  That,  therefore,  is  the 
source  whence  our  notions  of  evangelic  truth  and  piety 
must  in  the  first  place  be  taken.  It  will  be  well  for  the 
church  to  remount  to  that  source,  and  to  have  her  ideas 
of  Christianity  rectified  by  the  standard,  and  her  intui- 
tions restored  where  they  have  become  obscured  through 
the  moss  of  ages.  When  this  has  been  done,  it  will  be 
acknowledged  that  evangelic  piety  does  not  belong  ex- 
clusively to  a  sect  or  theological  school,  but  is  cathoHc 
and  unsectarian  ;  and  also,  that  it  is  not  to  be  identified 
with  the  conservative  spirit  in  religion.  The  days  in 
which  we  live  are  trying.  Unbelief  threatens  to  sweep 
away  all  reaUsed  religious  ideals,  creeds,  churches,  clergy. 
With  some  things  one  might  be  willing  to  part,  under 
stress  of  weather,  to  save  the  ship.  It  is  well  to  know 
what  is  ship  and  what  is  ballast.  A  recent  writer  on 
Natural  Religion  proposes  to  throw  overboard  every- 
thing except  that  with  which  men  like  Strauss,  Mill,  and 
Tyndall  could  agree,  and  to  be  content  with  nature,  art, 
and  humanity  as  sufficient  to  satisfy  the  religious  crav- 
ings of  the  soul.  Even  Christ  and  the  Gospels  may  be 
dispensed  with.  To  us  Christ  and  His  Gospel  are  the 
only  things  absolutely  indispensable.  While  the  spirit  of 
the  age  is  falling  away  to  the  worship  of  the  unknowable, 
the  beautiful,  the  scientific  order  of  the  universe,  we  would 
say,  "  To  whom  shall  we  go,  Thou  hast  the  words  of 
eternal  life."  This  book  is  a  slight  contribution  to  the 
study  of  some  of  these  golden  words.  It  is  written  mainly 
for  the  people.  May  it  help  them  to  a  better  knowledge 
of  the  people's  Friend.  THE  AUTHOR. 

Glasgow,  November  1882. 


/ 


CONTENTS. 


CHAP. 
I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI, 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX, 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 


BEGINNING   FROM   GALILEE        ...  I 

THE  ACCEPTABLE   YEAR   OF   THE   LORD    .  20 

THE  BEATITUDES 39 

THE   BEATITUDES— Conit'nucd               .           .  56 

THE   HEALER   OF   SOULS     ....  73 

MUCH   FORGIVENESS,  MUCH   LOVE     .           .  9I 

THE  JOY   OF   FINDING  THINGS   LOST          .  I08 

THE  SYMPATHY   OF   CHRIST        .           .           .  I28 

THE   POWER   OF   FAITH        ....  I46 

THE  VICARIOUS  VIRTUE  OF   FAITH  .           .  163 

CHRIST  THE   GREAT   INNOVATOR        .           .  180 

THE  JOY  OF  THE  JESUS-CIRCLE        .           .  I97 

THE    EVANGELIC    SPIRIT     ....  214 


IN  PREPARA  TION. 

THE     PAULINE    GOSPEL, 

[By  the  Rev.  Professor  A.  B.  Bruce,  D.D. 

A  Companion  Volume  to  the  "  Galilean  Gospel.'''' 


CHAPTER  I 

BEGINNING   FROM   GALILEE. 

"  Galilee  of  the  Gentiles  ;  the  people  which  sat  in  darkness 
saw  a  great  light ;  and  to  them  which  sat  in  the  region  and 
shadow  of  death  light  is  sprung  up." — Matt.  iv.  15,  16. 

Galilee  was  the  cradle  of  the  Gospel.  "  The 
word  which  God  sent  unto  the  children  of  Israel, 
preaching  peace  by  Jesus  Christ,  began  from 
Galilee,"  spreading  thence  throughout  all  Judea.* 
It  was  a  fitting  birth-place  for  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  First  of  all  it  had  been  pointed  out  by 
the  voice  of  prophecy  as  the  place  of  dawn  for 
a  new  era  of  Hope.  The  fact  is  duly  recognised 
by  the  Evangelist,  and  with  spiritual  tact  he 
cites  the  oracle  as  one  finding  its  fulfilment  in 
the  events  he  is  about  to  record.  The  appro- 
priateness of  the  citation  is  not  to  be  denied, 
though  the  circumstances  contemplated  by  the 
prophets  were  very  different  from  those  which 
prevailed  at  the  beginning  of  our  Lord's  public 
ministry.  The  darkness  which  brooded  over 
the  region  to  the  west  of  the  sea  of  Chinnereth, 
in  the  days  of  Isaiah,  was  the  desolation  and 
*Actsx.  36,  37. 
A 


2  BEGINNING  FROM  GALILEE. 

misery  caused  by  the  devastating  hosts  of  As- 
syria. The  people  in  that  quarter  of  the  Holy 
Land  felt  the  curse  of  war  first,  because  along 
the  way  which  skirted  the  lake  the  Assyrian 
oppressor  marched  to  conquest.  To  them,  by 
way  of  compensation,  was  to  come  first,  also, 
the  promised  redemption.  And  that  blessing, 
when  it  came,  was  to  consist  in  the  breaking  of 
the  oppressor's  yoke,  the  emancipation  of  a 
down-trodden  people  from  the  cruel  sway  of 
the  eastern  tyrant,  by  the  power  of  a  Messianic 
Prince  sent  by  God  to  deliver  His  people.  Then 
the  people  that  sat  in  darkness  should  see  the 
dawn  of  a  better  day  for  the  chosen  nation, 
bringing  to  the  conquered  and  spoiled  the  bles- 
sings of  liberty,  peace,  and  prosperity. 

Eight  centuries  later  the  position  of  Israel 
was  in  many  respects  changed.  Still  she  was 
in  bondage  to  a  foreign  yoke,  but  Assyria  had 
given  place  to  Rome.  And  the  yoke  of  Rome 
was  easy  and  her  burthen  light  in  comparison 
with  those  of  Assyria.  Under  her  dominion  a 
submissive  people,  not  restive  under  the  symbols 
of  conquest,  might  enjoy  the  blessings  of  good 
government,  security  for  life  and  property,  and 
encouragement  to  industry.  The  deepest  dark- 
ness brooding  over  the  land  now  was  not  politi- 
cal, but  moral  and  spiritual.  The  deliverance 
most  urgently  called  for  was  not  emancipation 
from  a  foreign  yoke,  but   salvation  from   the 


BEGINNING  FROM  GALILEE.  3 

night  of  ignorance,  and  from  the  power  of  sin. 
The  need  of  Israel  was  not  a  political  Messiah, 
but  one  who  could  bring  to  her  the  light  of 
spiritual  truth  and  the  liberty  of  holiness.  Such 
a  Messiah  God  gave  to  Israel  in  the  person  of 
Jesus,  who  came  to  save  His  countrymen,  not 
from  Rome,  but  from  their  prejudices  and  their 
sins.  He  was  the  true  Messiah  to  whom  all 
prophecy  dimly  pointed,  in  whom  all  prophetic 
ideals  found  their  highest  fulfilment ;  not  less, 
but  all  the  more,  the  true  Messiah,  because  His 
role  was  spiritual,  not  political ;  for  all  true, 
lasting  redemption  must  begin  in  the  spirit. 
He  began  his  beneficent  work  in  Galilee,  not 
because  Galilee's  need  was  the  sorest,  for  there 
were  other  parts  of  the  land  where  the  darkness 
in  some  respects  was  deeper.  But  Galilee's 
need  was  great  if  not  the  greatest ;  the  shadow 
of  death  which  lay  over  the  Lake  of  Tiberias 
was  deep  if  not  the  deepest.  Jesus  might  as 
well  begin  His  work  there  as  anywhere.  And  if 
He  did  begin  there  it  was  natural  that  the 
Evangelist  should  note  the  fact  and  signalise  its 
correspondence  with  the  word  of  prophecy ; 
seeing  therein  a  remarkable  fitness,  if  not  an 
intentional  fulfilment,  a  concurrence  by  no 
means  accidental,  though  its  true  reason  might 
lie  below  the  surface. 

But,   apart    from    prophetic    considerations, 
there  were  other  reasons  which  made  it  pecu- 


4  BEGINNING  FROM  GALILEE. 

liarly  fit  that  the  ministry  of  Jesus  should  com- 
mence in  Galilee,  or,  to  speak  more  exactly,  on 
the  shore  of  the  Sea  of  Tiberias. 

I.  Among  these  a  place  ought  to  be  assigned 
to  the  pJiysical  beauty  of  the  scene.  This,  in  an- 
cient times,  for  the  aspect  of  nature  is  much 
changed  now,  appears  to  have  been  very  great. 
The  Jewish  historian  Josephus  speaks  of  the 
region  in  terms  of  glowing  admiration  ;  repre- 
senting it  as  the  ambition  of  nature,  as  possess- 
ing a  climate  adapted  to  the  production  of  the 
most  diverse  kinds  of  fruits,  as  bringing  forth 
all  manner  of  fruits  in  greatest  abundance,  and 
especially  supplying  the  noblest  of  all,  the  grape 
and  the  fig,  during  ten  months  of  the  year.* 
Even  yet,  in  spite  of  the  desolation  and  the  de- 
population which  have  followed  in  the  track  of 
the  Moslem,  travellers  speak  with  rapture  of 
the  blue  lake  lying  deep  in  the  hollow,  the 
horizon  line,  the  shrubs,  the  flowers,  conspicuous 
among  which  are  the  pink-coloured  oleanders — 

All  through  the  summer  night 
Those  blossoms  red  and  bright 
Spread  their  soft  breasts  t 

along  the  little  promontories  indenting  the  shore 
line.     The  inhabitants  of  Quito,  high  up  among 

*De  Bell  ,  Jud.  iii.  x.  8. 

t  Keble,  "Christian  Year,"  quoted  by  Stanley,  "  Sinai  and 
Palestine." 


BEGINNING  FROM  GALILEE.  5 

the  Andes,  have  a  saying,  "  after  Quito  heaven,  V 
and  in  heaven  an  opening  to  look  down  on 
Quito."  Somewhat  similar  seems  to  have  been 
the  feeling  of  the  ancient  Jews  with  reference  to 
the  region  surrounding  the  Sea  of  Galilee  ;  and 
even  yet  there  is  enough  of  beauty  remaining 
to  bring  the  feeling  within  the  reach  of  our  sym- 
pathies. 

That  Jesus,  who,  from  all  His  utterances,  ap- 
pears a  lover  of  nature,  should  have  felt  drawn 
to  this  region  we  can  well  understand.  But 
apart  from  personal  liking,  there  was  a  congruity 
between  the  scene  and  the  Gospel  He  was  about 
to  preach.  That  Gospel  was  emphatically  a 
Gospel  of  hope,  and  it  was  meet  that  it  should 
be  cradled  in  a  region  of  beauty  and  sunny  bright- 
ness. Conceive  for  a  moment  Christ  commenc- 
ing His  ministry  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
Dead  Sea  !  How  unsuitable  that  land  of  death, 
and  sterility,  and  desert  desolation  to  be  the 
birth-place  of  a  gospel  which  was  to  remove  the 
blight  and  curse  brought  on  the  world  by  sin. 
Let  John  the  Baptist  commence  his  ministry 
there,  but  not  Jesus.  The  proper  scene  of  His 
work  is  the  lake,  not  of  death,  but  of  loveliness. 
In  either  case  the  place  was  well  chosen,  viewed 
as  an  emblem  of  the  spiritual  characteristics  of 
the  ministry  carried  on  therein,  and  of  the 
temper  of  the  agent.  John's  ministry  was  legal, 
Christ's    was   evangelic ;    John's    temper    was 


6  BEGINNING  FROM  GALILEE. 

severe,  gloomy,  despairing,  Christ's  was  genial, 
kindly,  hopeful.  Let  John  then,  by  all  means, 
go  to  the  Dead  Sea,  with  its  salt-encrusted  shore 
and  its  barren  rocks,  and  there,  amid  the  grim- 
ness  of  nature,  preach  repentance  and  the  near 
approach  of  a  Messiah  whose  coming,  as  he 
represents  it,  is  awful  news  rather  than  good 
news.  But  let  Jesus  come  to  the  bright,  sunny, 
beautiful  Sea  of  Galilee,  and  on  its  shore  preach 
His  Gospel  of  peace,  and  love,  and  hope,  and 
show  Himself  as  the  sympathetic  Son  of  man, 
and  herald  a  kingdom  of  grace  to  whose  bless- 
ings even  the  most  sinful  and  miserable  are 
welcome. 

And  let  us  join  Him  there.  "Ye  are  not 
come  to  Mount  Sinai,  but  to  Mount  Zion,"  said 
the  writer  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  to  his 
countrymen,  who  stood  in  need  of  consolation, 
and  also  of  instruction  in  the  true  genius  of 
Christianity.  In  the  same  spirit,  and  with  like 
intent,  we  might  say  to  Christians  now,  "  Ye  are 
not  come  to  the  Dead  Sea,  but  to  the  Sea 
of  Galilee."  This  is  what  we  would  say  in 
this  sermon,  and  in  this  book.  We  desire  to 
bring  you  back  to  the  Galilean  lake,  to  the 
haunts  of  Jesus  and  to  the  spirit  of  Jesus,  to 
the  brightness  and  sunny  summer  richness,  and 
joy,  and  geniality,  and  freedom  of  the  authentic 
Gospel  preached  by  Him  in  the  dawn  of  the 
era  of  grace.     Some  have  not  yet  come  to  that 


BEGINNING  FROM  GALILEE.  *] 

happy  place  ;  many  linger  by  the  Dead  Sea, 
and  are  disciples  of  John,  to  their  great  loss. 
For  it  is  good  to  be  with  Jesus  in  Galilee.  An 
evangelic  faith,  and  still  more  if  possible  an 
evangelic  temper,  in  sympathy  with  the  Gali- 
lean proclamation,  is  a  grand  desideratum.  It 
is  what  is  needed  to  redeem  the  evangel  from 
the  suspicion  of  exhaustion  or  impotence,  and 
to  rescue  the  very  term  "  evangelic  "  from  the 
reproach  under  which  it  lies  in  the  thoughts  of 
many. 

2.  A  second  point  in  the  fitness  of  the  locality 
chosen  by  Jesus  to  be  the  scene  of  His  ministry 
was  the  mixed  character  of  its  population.  This 
was  a  feature  of  Galilee  as  a  whole,  as  well  as 
of  the  parts  immediately  adjacent  to  the  lake. 
Hence  the  name  "  Galilee  of  the  Gentiles,"  as 
old  as  the  prophet  Isaiah.  The  northern  part 
of  Palestine  was  a  border  country,  and  as  such 
was  liable  not  only  to  experience  in  an  unusual 
degree  the  miseries  of  incessant  warfare,  but 
also  to  have  the  purity  of  its  blood,  and  of  its 
national  manners,  tainted  by  strangers  taking 
up  their  abode  within  it.  Originally  the  name 
seems  to  have  been  confined  to  the  limited  dis- 
trict in  which  were  situated  the  twenty  towns 
given  by  Solomon  to  Hiram,  King  of  Tyre, 
which  w^ould  naturally  become  filled  with 
foreigners,  and  so  come  to  be  called  the  district 
or   circuit  of  the  Gentiles.     In  course  of  time 


8  BEGINNING  FROM  GALILEE. 

the  name  was  applied  to  the  whole  northern 
territory,  probably  in  consequence  of  the  spread 
of  the  foreign  element  among  the  inhabitants. 
In  the  text  Galilee  stands  as  a  synonym  for 
the  northern  tribes,  and  a  Gentile  mixture  is 
ascribed  by  implication  to  the  whole  region. 
And  what  is  indirectly  asserted  of  Galilee  in 
general,  is  virtually  affirmed  of  the  crowded 
populations  along  the  shores  of  the  lake.  The 
Evangelist  means  to  emphasise  the  mixed 
character  of  that  population.  He  uses  with 
reference  to  it  the  expression  Galilee  of  the 
Gentiles,  not  merely  because  he  finds  it  in 
the  prophetic  oracle  which  he  quotes,  but  be- 
cause that  point  seems  to  him  a  very  significant 
feature  in  the  prophecy.  He  would  have  us 
note  as  characteristic  that  Jesus  began  His 
ministry  in  a  locality  occupied  not  by  a  pure 
Jewish  race,  but  by  a  motley  multitude  of 
people  of  various  nationality,  Jewish,  Syrian, 
and  Greek.  For  he,  too,  though  in  a  less  degree 
than  Luke,  knows,  and  rejoices  in  the  know- 
ledge, that  the  light  which  first  shines  in  Judaea 
is  destined  to  lighten  all  the  lands,  and  he  finds 
in  the  mixed  character  of  the  population  on 
which  the  rays  of  that  light  first  fell,  a  prophetic 
foreshadowing  of  the  fact.  If  such  was  indeed 
the  Evangelist's  thought,  we  must  admit  that  it 
was  no  mere  idle  fancy.  We  perceive  it  to  be 
fitting  that  Galilee  of  the  Gentiles  was  selected 


BEGINNING  FROM  GALILEE.  9 

by  Christ  to  be  the  cradle  of  a  gospel  destined 
to  universality.  It  was  well  that  He  who,  ere 
He  left  the  world,  said  to  His  disciples,  "Go 
and  teach  all  the  nations,"  should  commence 
the  work  among  a  people  amidst  whom  Jewish 
isolation  and  exclusiveness  appeared  only  in  a 
very  mitigated  degree.  Not  that  He  meant  to 
anticipate  the  time  appointed  for  preaching  the 
Gospel  to  the  outside  world.  He  did  not  judge 
it  wise  to  do  so,  and  He  confined  his  own  activity 
strictly  to  the  Jewish  people,  the  exceptions 
being  such  as  proved  the  rule.  Hence  His  avoid- 
ance of  Tiberias,  at  the  south  end  of  the  lake, 
which  was  in  the  whole  style  of  its  buildings 
and  manners,  a  Greek  city.  But  while  ever 
acting  as  a  minister  of  God  to  Israel,  He  did 
not  shun  opportunities  of  hinting,  as  it  were  in 
parable  or  symbol,  that  a  time  would  come 
when  the  word  of  the  kingdom  would  overflow 
the  boundaries  of  the  elect  people.  Such  a  hint 
He  gave  in  the  choice  of  the  district  called 
in  the  language  of  prophecy,  Galilee  of  the 
Gentiles,  as  the  scene  of  His  labours.  The 
choice  meant :  "  though  I  personally  be  a 
minister  of  the  kingdom  to  Jesus,  My  Gospel 
concerns  Gentiles,  It  is  My  vocation  now  to 
disperse  the  darkness  that  broods  over  Israel, 
but  I  came  to  be  eventually  the  light  of  the 
world," 

3.  A  third  feature  recommending  the  environ- 


lO  BEGINNING  FROM  GALILEE. 

ment  of  the  lake  to  be  the  theatre  of  Christ's 
ministry,  was  the  density  of  its  population.  The 
shores  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee  are  now  almost 
wholly  depopulated,  only  a  few  wretched  villages 
being  thinly  scattered  along  the  coast.  But  in 
our  Lord's  day  these  shores  were  crowded  with 
towns,  inhabited  by  great  multitudes  of  busy, 
industrious  people.  Josephus  writes :  "  The 
cities  here  lie  very  thick,  and  the  very  numerous 
villages  are  full  of  people  on  account  of  the  good- 
ness of  the  soil,  insomuch  that  even  the  smallest 
of  them  contains  above  15,000  inhabitants."* 
There  may  be  exaggeration,  even  gross  exag- 
geration, in  this  statement,  but  no  one  in  his 
senses  would  make  it,  unless  the  region  spoken 
of  were  in  a  remarkable  degree  populous. 

This  populousness  was  an  attraction  to  Jesus. 
On  one  side  of  His  nature  He  dearly  loved  soli- 
tude, but  on  another  He  delighted  to  mix  in  the 
busy  haunts  of  men.  He  did  not  care  for  the 
thing  called  popularity,  but  He  loved  human 
beings.  He  had  an  intensely  human  heart,  and 
He  liked  to  be  in  the  crowd,  observing  men's 
ways  and  work,  gaining  acquaintance  at  first 
hand  with  real  life ;  and  all  in  order  to  get  close 
to  men  for  their  good,  and  to  the  largest  num- 
ber possible.  Some  crowds,  indeed,  Jesus  did 
not  care  to  be  in,  but  avoided,  the  crowd,  for 
example,  to  be  found  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem ; 
*  B.  J.  iii.  3,  2. 


BEGINNING  FROM  GALILEE.  I  I 

the  reason  being  that  the  people  there  were  so 
encased  in  self-conceit,  and  prejudice,  and  artifi- 
ciality as  to  be  inaccessible  to  any  influence  not 
wholly  conventional  and  traditional,  a  risk  to 
which  all  cities  of  culture  are  exposed,  and  a 
very  serious  risk  it  is.  But  happily  the  crowds 
in  the  cities  of  the  lake  were  not  in  this  case. 
They  were  simple,  natural,  open,  receptive, 
partly  from  their  occupations,  the  chief  being 
that  of  fishermen ;  partly  because  they  were  a 
mixed  race  mutually  modifying  each  other ; 
none,  or  at  least  few,  being  able  to  boast  of  pure 
Jewish  blood,  and  custom  ;  a  great  advantage, 
for  nothing  hardens  like  pride  of  blood,  and  race, 
and  rite.  Nothing  but  the  pride  of  virtue,  the 
worst  pride  of  all.  From  this  also  the  Galileans 
were  comparatively  free,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  they  had  probably  not  much  virtue  to  boast 
of  Mixing  of  races  is  apt  to  bring  along  with 
it  corruption  or  degeneracy  of  morals.  Of  the 
prevalence  of  such  corruption  in  Galilee  we  have 
an  indication  in  the  question  of  Nathanael  to 
Philip,  "  Can  there  any  good  thing  come  out  of 
Nazareth?"*  as  also  in  the  note  appended  to  the 
name  of  Mary  of  Magdala — "  out  of  whom  went 
seven  devils." -f" 

4.  Strange  to  say,  this  very  corruption  formed 
a  fourth  element  in  the  fitness  and  attractiveness 
of  the  region  by  the  lake,  as  the  scene  of  Christ's 

*  John  i.  46.  tLuke  viii.  2. 


12  BEGINNING  FROM  GALILEE. 

ministry.  It  was  meet  that  Jesus  should  go 
down  to  Capernaum,  and  make  it  the  place  of 
His  abode,  just  because  it  was  down  not  physi- 
cally merely — lying  many  feet  below  the  level 
of  the  Mediterranean  in  a  great  chasm,  but 
morally  as  well.  That  descent  was  the  emblem 
of  a  gospel  which  was  to  be  distinguished  by 
the  depth  to  which  it  could  go  in  compassion 
for  human  depravity,  not  less  than  by  its  world- 
wide length  and  breadth  of  interest  and  range 
of  destination.  Not  only  was  it  meet  that  Jesus 
should  go  down  there  for  that  reason  ;  He  was 
attracted  to  that  low-lying  region  for  the  same 
reason.  The  corruption  of  those  populations 
on  the  margin  of  the  lake  drew  Him  down. 
Why }  Because  the  greater  their  corruption,  the 
greater  their  need  of  Him.  Not  only  so,  but 
the  greater  their  corruption,  the  greater  the 
possibilities  of  good  in  them  once  brought  to 
repentance.  They  to  whom  much  is  forgiven 
love  much.  One  out  of  whom  seven  devils  are 
cast,  is  capable  of  a  sevenfold  devotion.  The 
last  in  depravity  can  become  by  grace  the  first 
in  sanctity.  Jesus  knew  these  things  to  be  true, 
— it  is  from  Him  we  learn  them  ;  therefore  He 
went  down  to  the  side  of  the  lake  in  high  hope 
of  making  among  the  people  dwelling  there 
signal  gains  for  the  Divine  kingdom. 

From  the  foregoing  particulars,  taken  together, 
we   already    know   something    concerning    the 


BEGINNING  FROM  GALILEE.  1 3 

nature  of  the  "  Galilean  Gospel."  It  is  a  gospel 
of  geniality  and  joy,  smiling  as  the  region  in 
which  it  is  preached ;  of  world-wide  sympathy 
with  all  classes  and  races  of  men;  of  tender 
compassion  and  buoyant  hope  for  the  degraded 
and  depraved  ;  for  publicans  like  Matthew,  for 
sinners  like  the  Magdalene.  It  may  be  well, 
however,  that  we  try  to  form  a  somewhat  more 
definite  idea  of  the  Light  that  arose  on  the 
people  which  sat  in  darkness. 

The  light  was  the  whole  ministry  of  Christ. 
The  Evangelist,  thinking  of  all  that  Jesus  said, 
did,  and  was  in  Galilee,  as  about  to  be  recorded 
in  his  narrative,  prefixes  to  the  record  this 
reflection  :  The  people  that  sat  in  darkness  did 
indeed  see  a  great  light.  From  the  verse  im- 
mediately succeeding  our  text,  in  which  it  is 
stated  that  "  from  that  time  Jesus  began  to 
preach,  and  to  say  :  repent  for  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  at  hand,"  we  might  be  tempted  to 
narrow  the  light  to  the  doctrine  of  repentance 
and  pardon.  But  in  reality  it  embraces  the 
whole  doctrine  of  the  kingdom,  as  a  kingdom  of 
grace ;  and  besides  that,  and  above  all,  the 
person  of  the  King — "  the  Prince  of  Peace." 
More  than  all  he  said,  Christ  Himself  was 
the  Light.  For  "  in  Him  was  life,  and  the  life 
was  the  light  of  men."  The  sun  that  rose  on  the 
land  of  darkness,  with  healing  in  its  wings,  was 
"the  Son  of  Man,"  the  man  Christ  Jesus.     He 


14  BEGINNING  FROM  GALILEE. 

was  a  sun  to  Galilee,  to  Judaea,  and  ultimately 
to  the  world,  in  all  the  varied  aspects  of  His 
character  and  work.  In  Him  appeared  such  an 
one  as  the  world  had  never  seen  before,  recog- 
nisable by  all  who  saw  Him,  and  could  appre- 
ciate His  worth  and  work,  as  a  great  Deliverer. 

Jesus  was  as  a  sun  to  Galilee  specially  in 
four  respects : — 

First,  as  a  man  of  intense  sympathy,  whose 
heart  was  touched  with  pity  by  all  forms  of 
human  suffering.  The  evidence  and  the  out- 
come of  this  pity  were  the  healing  miracles, 
which  might  fitly  be  mentioned  first  in  an 
account  of  Christ's  ministry  because  they  would 
be  most  readily  appreciated  by  the  people. 
Matthew  accordingly  speaks  of  this  aspect  of 
the  ministry  in  the  sequel  of  the  chapter  from 
which  our  text  is  taken,  telling  how  Jesus  healed 
all  manner  of  sickness  and  all  manner  of 
disease  among  the  people.  There  were  many 
forms  of  disease  to  heal,  some  of  a  very  aggra- 
vated and  peculiar  character.  The  prevalence  of 
painful,  loathsome,  mortal  disease  was  one  phase 
of  the  darkness  that  brooded  over  the  land. 
Jesus  felt  for  the  victims,  and  His  sympathy 
was  a  ray  of  the  light  that  streamed  from  Him 
as  a  sun.  It  was  so  intense  that  thereby,  as  the 
Evangelist  elsewhere  remarks.  He  took  on  Him- 
self men's  infirmities  and  bore  their  sicknesses. 
Of  this   sympathy  Galilean   sufferers   got   the 


BEGINNING  FROM  GALILEE.  I  5 

benefit,  but  not  they  alone  ;  it  is  a  permanent 
element  in  the  h'ght  of  Christ.  It  is  an  intima- 
tion that  disease  and  death  are  not  to  last  for 
ever,  a  prophecy  of  the  redemption  of  the  body, 
a  hint  that  the  purpose  of  God's  gracious  love 
embraces  in  its  scope  the  whole  man,  not  the 
spirit  only.  As  such  it  is  worthy  of  all  accepta- 
tion. 

A  second  element  in  the  light  of  Christ  was 
the  spirit  of  hopeful  love  with  which  He  regarded 
the  most  aggravated  cases  of  moral  depravity. 
His  yearning  love  for  the  sinful  was  wonderful  ; 
His  hope  for  their  recovery  not  less  so.  Both 
were  new,  and  came  on  those  who  witnessed 
their  manifestation  as  a  surprise.  The  way  of 
the  well-conducted  in  those  days  was  to  be  at 
once  careless  and  hopeless  respecting  the  bad  ; 
to  shun  their  society,  and  to  regard  them  as 
finally  given  over  to  evil  courses.  Jesus  did 
neither  of  these  things.  He  loved  and  He 
hoped  in  connection  with  the  lapsed ;  loved  and 
therefore  hoped ;  hoped  and  therefore  took 
trouble  to  bring  them  to  repentance ;  having 
fellowship  with  them,  that  by  sympathy  He 
might  restore  them  to  goodness.  And  great 
was  the  brightness  with  which  this  love  and  this 
hope  shone  into  the  darkness.  For  nowhere 
else  did  such  lights  appear.  And  the  darkness 
on  which  the  love  and  hope  of  Jesus  shone  was 
very  deep.      Sin  was   rampant   in    Galilee,  as 


1 6  BEGINNING  FROM  GALILEE. 

well  as  disease  ;  sin  especially  in  forms  which 
cause  conscious  misery  and  degradation.  One 
looking  on  the  surface  would  say:  Little  hope 
of  reformation  there.  Jesus  declined  to  sa}' 
that ;  He  dared  to  hope  for  new  life  even  amid 
vice  and  profligacy.  And  this  love  that  refused 
to  despair  is  another  permanent  element  in  the 
light  of  Christ,  telling  us  that  sin  is  not,  any 
more  than  death,  unconquerable,  and  that  even 
the  chief  of  sinners  are  not  beyond  redemption. 
A  third  element  in  the  light  that  arose  in 
Galilee  to  which  we  simply  refer,  is  the  zvisdom 
of  Jesus,  revealed  in  all  His  words,  and  more 
particularly  in  His  parables  of  grace,  and  in 
His  doctrine  of  the  kingdom.  Nothing  is  more 
remarkable  in  this  connection  than  "  the  Beati- 
tudes," forming  the  preface  to  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount.  Think  of  the  kind  of  people  who  are 
there  pronounced  happy  :  the  poor,  the  hungry, 
those  that  weep !  These  are  they  whom  the 
world  accounts  miserable,  and  speaks  of  heart- 
lessly as  unfortunate.  And  they  are  unhappy 
in  a  sense.  But  Jesus  says  they  are  not  there- 
fore necessarily  wretched.  Though  unhappy  they 
may  be  blessed ;  that  is,  partakers  of  a  higher 
kind  of  felicity,  which  he  who  has  once  tasted 
it  would  not  part  with  for  all  the  happiness  that 
wealth,  health,  and  friends  can  bestow.  Com- 
fortable doctrine  for  the  children  of  sorrow ! 
Blessed    light   amidst    forms    of    darkness    in 


BEGINNING  FROM  GALILEE.  I  7 

which  this  earth  in  all  places  and  in  all  ages 
abounds !  Poverty,  hunger,  tears,  are  every- 
where. But  where  they  are  Christian  blessedness 
may  be,  wealth  of  grace,  abundance  of  right- 
eousness and  wisdom,  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Finally,  another  ray  in  the  light  of  Christ  was 
what  we  may  call  His  7iaturalness  as  a  man  and 
as  a  teacher.  In  him  appeared  a  man  of  free 
untrammelled  mind,  totally  exempt  from  the 
spiritual  fetters  of  the  time.  The  appearance 
of  such  a  man  is  at  all  times  a  boon  to  be 
welcomed  ;  but  never  was  there  greater  need 
for  the  light  of  moral  originality  than  in  the 
days  of  our  Lord.  The  want  of  that  was  the 
darkest  element  in  the  darkness  of  the  age. 
The  people  of  Galilee  were  afflicted  with  the 
darkness  of  disease,  and  with  the  darkness  of 
sin  ;  but  they  were  afflicted  still  more  griev- 
ously with  the  darkness  produced  by  blind 
guides.  That  darkness  was  densest  over  Jeru- 
salem, but  it  was  in  Galilee  too ;  it  was  every- 
where in  the  Holy  Land.  All  over  Palestine, 
north,  south,  east,  and  west,  were  to  be  found 
those  dismal  teachers  of  the  law  who  multiplied 
rules,  and  split  casuistical  hairs,  and  made  life 
miserable,  conscience  uneasy,  and  God's  law 
contemptible.  Through  their  baleful  influence 
the  light  within,  the  moral  sense,  was  darkened, 
and  the  shadow  of  death  spread  over  the  whole 
country.     What  a  boon  at  such  a  time  the  ap- 

B 


l8       BEGINNING  FROM  GALILEE. 

pearance  of  a  man  of  free  creative  mind,  with 
fresh  moral  intuitions,  unsophisticated  in  con- 
science, fearless  in  spirit,  while  averse  from  con- 
troversy and  desirous  to  live  at  peace  with  all 
men.  His  appearance  is  a  republication  of  the 
moral  law,  a  restoration  of  the  light  of  day  in 
the  moral  world,  after  a  long  night  of  supersti- 
tion, hypocrisy,  and  delusion,  driving  unclean 
birds  to  their  hiding  places,  and  encouraging 
honest  souls  to  come  to  the  light  that  their  deeds 
may  be  made  manifest  that  they  are  wrought  in 
God. 

Such  a  moral  revolution  Jesus  wrought  sim- 
ply by  being  a  true  man  among  many  counter- 
feits, a  free  man  among  many  slaves,  a  brave 
man  among  many  cowards,  a  natural  man 
among  many  artificial  men.  Such  a  revolution 
he  is  able  to  work  still,  through  the  same 
elements  of  His  character,  which  are  also  a  per- 
manent part  of  the  light  which  He  sheds  on  the 
world.  And  there  is  need  of  such  revolutions 
from  time  to  time.  For  Rabbinical  darkness  is 
ever  apt  to  reappear,  in  new  forms  but  the  same 
in  spirit ;  and  when  it  does  reappear,  there  is 
urgent  need  that  the  moral  and  spiritual  intui- 
tions be  restored  in  their  purity  and  power. 
Perhaps  we  should  not  greatly  err  if  we  said 
that  such  is  the  need  of  our  own  time.  What  a 
bright  light  would  spring  up  to  us  were  Christ 
shown  to  our  spirit  as  He  appeared  in  Capernaum 


BEGINNING  FROM  GALILEE.  19 

— the  son  of  man,  the  man  of  tender  sympathy, 
of  boundless  love  and  hope,  of  divine  wisdom, 
and  of  absolute  moral  simplicity  and  originality  ! 
Then  should  we  know  what  genuine  evangelic 
piety  is ;  then  should  we  see  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  in  all  the  beauty  of  the  Galilean  dawn  ; 
then  should  we  experience  the  power  of  the 
Gospel  in  our  own  hearts  to  gladden  and  sanc- 
tify :  in  the  church  to  beautify  it  with  wisdom, 
zeal,  and  charity ;  in  society  to  turn  its  waste 
places  into  fruitful  fields,  bearing  an  abundant 
harvest  of  sobriety,  righteousness,  and  godli- 
ness. 


CHAPTER  n. 

THE   ACCEPTABLE   YEAR   OF   THE   LORD. 
Luke  iv.  16-30. 

Every  Christian  would  wish  to  know  what 
were  the  first  words  spoken  by  Jesus  as  a 
preacher  of  the  good  tidings  of  the  kingdom. 
Two  of  the  Evangelists  seem  to  gratify  this 
natural  curiosity.  The  *'  Sermon  on  the  Mount " 
comes  in  at  a  very  early  point  in  Matthew's 
narrative,  as  if  the  intention  of  the  writer  were 
to  present  it  to  his  readers  as  the  first  discourse 
pronounced  by  Christ  after  entering  on  His 
public  ministry.  On  this  view,  "  the  Beatitudes  " 
were  the  inaugural  utterances  of  the  Galilean 
Gospel,  and  they  are  certainly  well  worthy  to 
strike  the  key-note  of  the  heavenly  music  which 
ushered  in  the  era  of  Redemption.  According 
to  the  third  Evangelist,  not  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  but  the  sermon  in  the  synagogue  of 
Nazareth  on  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord, 
appears  to  have  had  the  honour  of  being  the 
first  embodiment  in  solemn  speech  of  the  good 
news  of  God.  Luke  certainly  does  give  to  that 
sermon  the  same  place  of  prominence,  near  the 


THE  ACCEPTABLE  YEAR  OF  THE  LORD.   2  I 

beginning  of  his  narrative,  assigned  by  Matthew 
to  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount ;  and  the  fact  is 
not  without  significance,  as  indicative  of  the 
distinctive  character  of  his  Gospel,  as  compared 
with  that  of  the  first  EvangeHst.  The  spirit  of 
the  two  EvangeHsts  is  indicated  by  what  they 
place  first ;  all  the  more  if  what  they  set  in  the 
forefront  of  their  story  did  not  occur  so  early 
in  the  actual  history.  Judged  by  this  test,  the 
bias  of  Luke  was  to  regard  Christ's  work  as 
emphatically  a  ministry  of  love,  and  His  words 
as  "words  of  grace."  Matthew,  on  the  other 
hand,  by  the  same  rule,  while  not  insensible,  as 
the  Beatitudes  show,  to  the  gracious  side  of 
Christ's  doctrine,  recognised  in  it  a  legal  element, 
which  finds  expression  in  the  body  of  the  great 
discourse. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  neither  of  the 
sermons  occupied  the  place  of  an  inaugural  dis- 
course. There  is  the  less  reason  to  doubt  this 
in  the  case  of  the  sermon  in  the  synagogue  of 
Nazareth,  that  the  Evangelist  himself  allows  us 
to  see  he  is  aware  that  the  ministry  of  Jesus  did 
not  begin  there  and  then,  and  in  the  manner 
described.  He  knows  of  things  previously 
done,  and  we  may  assume  said  also,  in  Caper- 
naum.* Though  he  puts  this  scene  in  the  fore- 
front, he  knows  that  it  is  not  actually  the  first 
scene.     It  is  important  to  note  this  fact,  as  it 

*  Ver.  23. 


2  2   THE  ACCEPTABLE  YEAR  OF  THE  LORD. 

helps  to  obviate  objections  that  might  be  taken 
to  the  utterances  and  bearing  of  Jesus  in  his 
native  town,  assuming  the  incidents  recorded  to 
belong  to  the  early  period  of  His  ministry.  The 
V/  words,  "  This  day  is  this  scripture  fulfilled  in 
your  ears,"  involve  a  distinct  claim  to  Messiah- 
ship  ;  the  references  to  the  history  of  the  pro- 
phets Elijah  and  Elisha  indicate  a  preference  of 
heathens  to  Jews ;  the  reflections  provoked  by 
the  not  unnatural  surprise  of  the  villagers  at  the 
talents  displayed  in  the  discourse  to  which  they 
had  listened  seem  to  betray  a  certain  tone  of 
impatience  or  irritation.  These  things,  it  may 
be  said,  it  has  indeed  been  said,  do  not  suit  the 
initial  stage,  but  could  only  appropriately  hap- 
pen at  an  advanced  stage  in  the  ministry. 
They  make  the  end  the  beginning,  to  the  injury 
of  the  history,  and  even  of  the  character  of 
Jesus.* 

All  this  may  be  granted  without  prejudice  to 
the  good  faith  or  the  accuracy  of  the  Evangelist. 
For  though,  for  some  reason,  he  placed  this 
scene  at  the  commencement  of  his  story,  he 
does  not  mislead  his  readers.  His  narrative 
is  quite  compatible  with  the  supposition  that 
the  events  recorded  really  occurred  at  the  late 
period  implied  in  the  accounts  of  the  first  and 
second  Gospels  ;-f"  that  is  to  say,  after  a  ministry 

*  So  Keim  in  his  "  History  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth." 
t  Matt.  xiii.  54-58;  Mark  vi.  1-6. 


THE  ACCEPTABLE  YEAR  OF  THE  LORD.       23 

of  some  duration  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Caper- 
naum, including  the  working  of  many  miracles 
and  the  utterance  of  many  weighty  words,  such 
as  the  parables  recorded  in  the  thirteenth  chap- 
ter of  Matthew. 

^  Why  it  was  that  Luke  transferred  to  the  be- 
ginning what  actually  belonged  to  a  late  time, 
we  shall  see  immediately.  Meantime  it  will 
serve  a  good  purpose  to  endeavour  to  form  as 
clear  a  conception  as  possible  of  the  probable 
situation  —  the  historical  setting  of  the  dis- 
course in  the  synagogue  of  Nazareth.  And  in 
the  first  place,  we  remark  that  a  visit  to  Nazareth, 
accompanied  by  some  such  incidents  as  are 
recorded  by  Luke,  is  clearly  implied  in  the  nar- 
ratives of  all  the  three  synoptical  Evangelists. 
All  relate  how  Jesus  came  to  His  own  native 
place,  entered  into  the  synagogue  there,  and 
delivered  an  address  which  created  general 
astonishment,  yet  failed  to  win  for  the  speaker 
a  sympathetic  believing  reception  from  his 
fellow-townsmen,  but,  on  the  contrary,  had  for 
Its  final  issue  deep  and  permanent  alienation. 
The  story  in  these  its  main  lines  has  a  sure  place 
in  the  evangelic  tradition,  distinctly  though 
briefly  recognised  even  in  the  fourth  Gospel* 
But  in  what  circumstances  did  this  visit  to 
Nazareth  take  place  ?  when  did  Jesus  ascend 
from  the  sea-shore  to  His  native  village,  and  in 

*  John  iv.  43-45. 


24   THE  ACCEPTABLE  YEAR  OF  THE  LORD. 

what  mood  ?  The  probable  connection  of 
events  was  as  follows.  Jesus  had  laboured  for 
a  while  among  the  cities  by  the  lake.  His 
words  and  works  had  produced  a  great  impres- 
sion, which,  however,  had  proved  evanescent. 
The  Capernaum  enthusiasm  had  been  followed 
by  a  crisis  bringing  a  decline  of  interest  in  the 
Galilean  Gospel,  and  of  affection  for  the  Great 
Evangelist.  The  effect  on  Christ's  own  spirit 
was  a  deep  sadness  which  found  expression 
variously:  in  complaints  against  the  cities 
wherein  His  mighty  works  were  done,*  and  very 
specially  in  the  adoption  of  a  new  parabolic 
mode  of  setting  forth  His  thoughts.  For  the 
parables  are  the  reflection  of  a  melancholy  mood, 
and  the  first  parable,  that  of  the  sower,  reveals 
very  clearly  the  cause  of  the  melancholy  in  the 
presence  among  the  hearers  of  the  word  of  the 
kingdom  of  so  many  in  whom  that  word  would 
bring  forth  no  abiding  fruit.f  In  yet  another 
way  did  the  sadness  of  Jesus  seek  relief,  viz.,  by 
a  visit  to  His  native  town.  The  visit  did  not 
mean  a  change  of  plan,  the  selection  of  a  new 
sphere  of  work,  the  abandonment  of  a  popula- 
tion that  had  deeply  disappointed  early  expec- 
tations in  favour  of  a  people  from  whom  better 
things — more   receptivity  and   constancy,  were 

*  Matt.  xi.  20-24. 

t  Vide  on   this   my  work   on  "  The  raiaboHc  Teaching  of 
Christ,"  p.  19. 


THE  ACCEPTABLE  YEAR  OF  THE  LORD.   25 

hoped.  Jesus  knew  man  too  well  to  expect  for 
a  prophet  special  success  in  His  own  country; 
He  was  aware,  as  the  proverb  he  quoted  in  the 
synagogue  of  Nazareth  shows,  that  all  experi- 
ence bore  witness  to  the  contrary.  That  visit 
meant  much  the  same  thing  as  the  occasional 
retirement  into  solitary  places  in  the  evening 
to  pray,  of  which  we  read  in  the  Gospels.  It 
was  a  weary  heart  seeking  rest,  not  so  much  in 
the  sympathy  of  man,  as  in  the  bosom  of  His 
Father,  amid  the  haunts  of  childhood,  and  the 
revived  associations  of  by-past  years. 

But  while  Jesus  did  not  go  to  Nazareth  in 
quest  of  a  new  theatre  of  operations,  or  of  more 
receptive  hearers.  He  could  not  be  there  without 
taking  an  opportunity  of  proclaiming  to  His 
fellow-townsmen  the  good  tidings  He  had  been 
preaching  to  the  busy  populations  of  the  valley 
below;  especially  if,  as  is  not  improbable.  He 
had  not  yet  appeared  among  them  as  the  Herald 
of  the  kingdom.  Even  though  it  be  true  that  a 
prophet  hath  no  honour  in  his  own  country,  and 
therefore  does  well  not  to  rely  too  much  upon 
the  support  of  those  who  have  been  familiar 
with  him  from  his  earliest  years,  yet  it  were 
unseemly  for  one  who  has  received  a  prophet's 
commission  to  deliver  his  message  to  the  wide 
public  and  to  pass  the  acquaintances  of  his  boy- 
hood over.  Whatever  comes  of  it,  he  must 
preach  to  them  also. 


26   THE  ACCEPTABLE  YEAR  OF  THE  LORD. 

The  needed  opportunity  was  found  in  the 
local  synagogue.  There  any  one,  with  the  per- 
mission of  the  chief  man,  might  without  presump- 
tion read  and  exhort.  The  roll  containing  the 
prophecies  of  Isaiah  having  been  put  into  His 
hands  by  the  officer,  Jesus  opened  it,  and,  lighting 
upon  the  passage  concerning  the  acceptable  year 
of  tJie  Loi'd,  read  it  in  the  hearing  of  those  present. 
The  section  read  might  be  the  lesson  for  the  day, 
or  more  probably  it  was  expressly  selected  and 
adapted  for  the  occasion.  Adapted  it  certainly 
was,  if  it  was  read  as  it  stands  in  the  Gospel,  for 
the  text  as  given  by  Luke  differs  from  the  ori- 
ginal, by  the  omission  of  the  clause  concerning 
the  day  of  vengeance,  and  by  the  addition  of  a 
clause  from  an  earlier  chapter  of  Isaiah,  this 
viz.,  "  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised," 
which  corresponds  to  the  expression,  "  to  let  the 
oppressed  go  free,"  in  Isaiah  Iviii.  6. 

Having  read  the  unusually  brief  but  peculiarly 
impressive  Scripture  portion,  Jesus  sat  down  and 
began  to  discourse  on  it,  to  the  effect  that  He 
was  the  anointed  one  referred  to  therein,  and 
that  in  His  ministry  and  mission  the  promise 
of  the  acceptable  year  was  fulfilled.  The  eyes 
of  all  were  turned  towards  Him  with  eager  ex- 
pectation, for  doubtless  they  had  heard  the 
fame  of  His  work  in  Capernaum,  and  were 
curious  to  see  how  the  rising  celebrity,  a  towns- 
man of  their  own,  would  acquit  Himself.   To  an 


THE  ACCEPTABLE  YEAR  OF  THE  LORD.   27 

ordinary  speaker  the  intense  interest  might  have 
been  embarrassing,  but  Jesus  rose  above  all 
embarrassment  and  spoke  with  an  inspiration, 
eloquence,  and  felicity  not  to  be  resisted.  The 
immediate  result  was  universal  admiration.  But 
the  average  of  mankind  do  not  long  remain  in 
this  mood.  Admiration  soon  gives  place  to 
envy,  and  praise  to  depreciatory  criticism.  No 
matter  how  superior  the  performance,  occasion 
for  fault  finding  is  sure  to  be  found;  if  not  in  the 
person  himself,  then  in  his  environment.  The 
fault  of  Jesus  lay  in  His  being  a  Nazarene.  He 
was  one  of  themselves,  they  knew  Him  from 
boyhood,  and  all  His  kith  and  kin,  and  could 
give  the  names  of  his  father  and  mother,  and 
brothers  and  sisters.  And  so  they  passed  from 
admiration  to  surprise,  and  from  surprise  to 
irritation.  "  How  gracious  the  substance  of  this 
discourse,  and  how  graceful  the  manner.  But 
how  should  a  townsman  of  ours  have  such  rare 
gifts  ;  nay,  what  right  has  he  to  be  other  than 
commonplace  like  the  rest  of  us,  like  the  other 
members  of  his  own  family.^  James  and  Joses 
and  Simon  and  Judas  are  all  very  ordinary 
men,  why  should  Jesus  their  brother  be 
extraordinary  ^  Is  it  credible  that  he  should 
be  so  extraordinary  as  he  says ;  not  merely 
unusually  clever,  as  we  cannot  deny,  but  the 
anointed  one,  the  Messiah,  spoken  of  by  the 
prophet  ?  It  would  require  strong  evidence  to 
convince  us  of  this." 


28   THE  ACCEPTABLE  YEAR  OF  THE  LORD. 

So  thought  the  men  of  Nazareth,  so  spake 
they  to  each  other  with  the  wonted  freedom  of 
a  Jewish  synagogue.  Jesus  knew  human  nature 
in  general,  and  Jewish  human  nature  in  parti- 
cular too  well,  to  be  hurt  or  surprised  at  the 
feelings  visible  in  their  countenances,  and 
audible  in  their  words.  The  reception  He  had 
got  appeared  to  Him  only  a  verification  of  the 
truth  of  proverb-lore  expressed  in  such  sayings 
as  "  Physician  heal  thyself,"  "  No  prophet  is  ac- 
cepted in  his  own  country."  These  proverbs  He 
quoted  to  His  audience,  to  show  them  how  well 
He  understood  them,  and  how  much  a  matter 
of  course  their  ungenerous  behaviour  was  in  His 
eyes.  But  while  thus  treating  their  unbelief  as 
natural.  He  did  not  allow  them  to  imagine  it 
was  blameless.  On  the  contrary.  He  gave  them 
to  understand  that  it  was  a  moral  defect  that 
brought  along  with  it  its  own  penalty.  If  a 
prophet  had  no  honour  in  his  own  country,  it 
was  not  the  fault  of  the  prophet,  but  of  his 
countrymen.  For  the  prophet  was  not  without 
honour,  save  in  his  own  country,  and  among  his 
own  kin  and  in  his  own  house.  Whence  this  ex- 
ception to  the  universal  esteem  accorded  to  one 
exercising  the  prophetic  office  ;  what  is  its 
meaning  and  import .''  What  but  this,  a  moral 
blindness  that  cannot  discern  nobleness  through 
the  disguise  of  a  mean  or  familiar  environment. 
Such  blindness  has  for  its  inevitable  penalty 


THE  ACCEPTABLE  YEAR  OF  THE  LORD.   29 

that  the  prophet  goes  where  he  gets  honour. 
This   unpleasant   truth    Jesus    hinted    to    His 
hearers  by  the  citation  of  historical  examples. 
It  was  a  truth  which,  in  one  form  or  another,  He 
had  frequent  occasion  to  repeat.     Already  He 
had  spoken  it  in  effect  to  the  men  of  Capernaum 
when  He  said  that  if  the  mighty  works  done 
among  them  had  been  done  in  Tyre  and  Sidon, 
they  would    have   repented    in    sackcloth    and 
ashes.     Now   He    speaks    it    to    the   men    of 
Nazareth,  not  in  anger,  but  in  discharge  of  a 
sad  duty.     Ere  long  He  will  have  to  speak  it 
to  the  whole  nation  of  Israel,  in  parables  of 
Judgment,    like   the    Barren  Fig-tree,   and  the 
wicked    vinedressers,    intimating   the    transfer- 
ence of  privilege  despised  or  abused,  from  the 
elect  race  to  the  outside  world  of  the  Gentiles. 
It  was  a  truth  which  the  Jews,  in  their  pride^ 
could  not  bear  to  hear.     The  Nazarenes  were 
no  exception.    The  ominous  allusions  to  favours 
conferred  by  Hebrew  prophets  on  aliens  touched 
their  prejudices  and  passions  to  the  quick,  and 
raised  in  the  synagogue  a  sudden  tempest  of 
indignation,  which  threatened  the  bold  speaker 
with  instant  destruction. 

The  whole  scene  in  the  synagogue  of  Nazareth 
from  beginning  to  end  is  full  of  typical  signifi- 
cance. Commencing  with  evangelic  discourse, 
and  closing  with  death-perils,  it  may  be  said  to 
be  an  epitome  of  the  history  of  Jesus.     And  for 


3©      THE  ACCEPTABLE  YEAR  OF  THE  LORD. 

that  very  reason  it  is  introduced  here  by  the 
EvangeHst  at  so  early  a  place  in  his  narrative. 
Luke,  perceiving  its  significance,  has  selected  it 
to  be  the  frontispiece  of  his  gospel,  showing  by 
sample  the  salient  features  of  its  contents.  He 
is  not  to  be  blamed  for  doing  this,  provided  care 
has  been  taken  to  prevent  misapprehension  as 
to  the  true  place  of  the  scene  in  the  history. 
The  frontispiece  in  a  book  is  often  taken  from 
an  advanced  page,  from  which  certain  words 
are  quoted  to  illustrate  the  picture,  the  number 
of  the  page  from  which  the  quotation  is  made 
being  added  for  the  guidance  of  the  reader. 
Luke  has  only  availed  himself  of  this  literary 
license,  and  not  without  due  precautions ;  for 
the  reference  to  the  works  "done  in  Capernaum," 
so  to  speak,  gives  the  historical  page  from  which 
the  frontispiece  is  taken. 

The  only  question  is,  has  Luke  selected  his 
frontispiece  well  ?  He  is  not  to  be  blamed  for 
having  a  frontispiece ;  but  he  might  be  blame- 
worthy if  he  gave  so  prominent  a  place  to  a 
scene  not  possessing  the  many-sided  significance 
required.  In  this  respect,  however,  there  is  no 
room  for  fault  finding.  The  selection  is  most 
felicitous  at  all  points.  Let  us  consider  the  scene 
in  detail  more  attentively  that  we  may  see  this. 

It  is  probable  that  for  Luke's  own  mind  the 
emblematic  significance  of  the  scene  lay  chiefly 
in  these  two  features  :  the  gracious  character  of 


THE  ACCEPTABLE  YEAR  OF  THE  LORD.   3  I 

Christ's  discourse,  and  the  indication  in  the 
close  of  the  universal  destination  of  the  Gospel. 
These  were  things  sure  to  interest  the  Pauline 
Evangelist.  That  the  former  feature  arrested 
his  attention,  appears  from  the  phrase  which  he 
employs  to  describe  the  nature  of  Christ's 
sermon,  "  words  of  grace,"  an  expression  ail  the 
more  remarkable  that  it  is  of  rare  occurrence  in 
the  Gospels.  It  goes  without  saying  that  he 
was  fully  alive  to  the  prophetic  import  of  the 
final,  tragic  phase  of  the  scene.  In  its  hints  of 
a  wider  range  for  the  ministry  of  grace  than 
the  narrow  bounds  of  Israel,  the  consequent 
outburst  of  murderous  rage  among  bigoted 
villagers,  and  the  escape  and  departure  of  Jesus, 
the  historian  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  could 
not  fail  to  recognise  anticipations  and  fore- 
shadowings  of  similar  incidents  in  the  mission- 
ary experience  of  Paul.  In  this  view  the 
present  narrative  may  be  regarded  as  a  frontis- 
piece, not  only  to  the  Gospel  of  Luke,  but  to 
the  combined  historical  work  of  which  he  was 
the  author. 

It  is  a  worthy  frontispiece,  in  respect  both  of 
the  grace  and  of  the  nniversality  of  the  Gospel. 
In  the  first  place,  the  text  of  Christ's  discourse 
was  a  most  gracious  one ;  none  more  so  could 
have  been  found  within  the  range  of  Old  Testa- 
ment prophecy.  It  was  made  more  gracious 
than    in   the  original,  by  the  omission  of  the 


32   THE  ACCEPTABLE  YEAR  OF  THE  LORD. 

reference  to  the  day  of  vengeance,  and  by  the 
addition  of  a  clause  to  make  the  account  of 
Messiah's  blessed  work  as  many-sided  and 
complete  as  possible.  Its  graciousness  was 
further  enhanced  by  the  lifting  up  of  the  whole 
ministry  of  Messiah  from  the  political  to  the 
spiritual  plane.  The  mission  of  the  anointed 
one  in  the  view  of  the  prophet  was  to  deliver 
Israel  from  Babylonish  exile,  and  so  inaugurate 
a  new  year  of  jubilee,  bringing  freedom  to  the 
captive,  and  vengeance  on  the  head  of  the 
oppressor.  The  announcement  of  such  deliver- 
ance was  a  veritable  gospel,  albeit  a  political 
one,  good  tidings,  indeed,  to  the  meek,  from  a 
most  gracious  covenant  God  mindful  of  His 
people  in  their  downtrodden  estate.  But  there 
is  a  worse  bondage  than  that  of  Babylon,  and 
a  higher  liberty  than  that  which  releases  from 
an  outward  yoke.  Christ  had  these  in  view 
when  he  quoted  the  prophetic  oracle.  That  is 
not  indeed  expressly  indicated.  The  words  as 
given  are  susceptible  of  either  reference.  But 
there  are  times  when  old  words  receive  new  and 
higher  meanings,  and  there  are  times  when  old 
meanings  demand  new  words.  Such  a  time 
was  that  of  Jesus.  He  came  to  fill  old  phrases 
with  a  deeper,  wider  sense,  to  make  the  oppres- 
sor signify  not  Rome  but  sin,  and  captivity 
enslavement  by  evil  desires  and  habits;  to  make 
poverty  mean  more  than  the  lack  of  outward 


THE  ACCEPTABLE  YEAR  OF  THE  LORD.   3^ 

goods,  and   a  broken  heart  more  than  merely 
worldly  disappointment.      The  new  era  which 
came  in  with  Christ  brought  along  with  it  two 
great  changes  in  human  thought.    It  proclaimed 
the   importance   of   the   individual   man    as    a   v^ 
moral   subject,    and    it   placed    happiness    and 
mjsery  within,  not  without ;  in  the  heart,  not  in 
outward   possessions   or  position.      Of  old  the 
nation  was  the  unit,  and  the  individual  man  of 
no  account.     Israel,  as  a  whole,  was  God's  son, 
and  the  object  of  Divine  care.     But  now,  in  the 
new  era,  men  are  told  that  God  cares  for  them 
individually,  for  the  poorest  and  the  vilest,  and 
this  message  is  itself  an  essential  part   of  the 
gospel  which  Christ  preaches.   When  He  speaks 
of  "  the  poor,"  "  the  broken-hearted,"  "  the  cap- 
tives," "the  blind,"  "the  bruised,"  He  means, 
not   a   community,    but    individual    men    and 
women,  much  needing  to  hear  some  message  of 
hope  and  consolation.     And  what  He  offers  to 
them  is  not  money  or  food,  or  freedom  from  an 
external  yoke,  but  something  nearer  themselves. 
He  gives  them  to   understand   that  happiness 
consists  not  in  what  a  man  has,  but  in  what  he 
is,  and  that  it  is  in  the  power  of  all  to  be  such 
in  heart,  that  no  matter  what  his  outward  lot, 
he  must  need  be  inwardly  blessed.     Such  were 
the  ideas  of  the  new  era  which  made  it  an  era 
in  human  history  ;  and  it  was  with  these  ideas 
in  His  mind  that  Jesus  quoted  the  text  from 


c 


1/ 


34   I'HE  ACCEPTABLE  YEAR  OF  THE  LORD, 

Isaiah's  prophecies.  And  surely  it  was  a 
gracious  text  when  so  understood  !  There  was 
grace  in  it  even  when  addressed  by  the  prophet 
to  Israel  as  a  whole  with  reference  to  her  poli- 
tical condition  ;  how  much  more  when  used  as  a 
gospel  for  the  individual  spirit,  and  offering  to 
each  human  being,  however  circumstanced, 
peace,  wisdom,  self-mastery,  release  from  the 
fetters  of  ignorance,  passion,  and  evil  habit,  into 
a  blessed  subjection  to  the  sway  of  reason, 
conscience,  and  God. 

If  Christ's  text  was  full  of  grace.  His  sermon 
appears  to  have  been  not  less  so.  It  has  not 
indeed  been  recorded  at  length  or  even  in  out- 
line, but  its  drift  is  indicated,  and  its  general 
spirit  characterised.  "  He  began  to  say  unto 
them.  This  day  is  this  scripture  fulfilled  in 
your  ears."  He  claimed  for  His  ministry  to  be 
a  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy,  and  of  course  set 
forth  the  grounds  on  which  the  claim  rested. 
This  He  could  not  do  convincingly  without  mak- 
ing a  statement  of  doctrines  and  facts,  the  very 
burthen  of  which  was  grace  ;  for  it  would  require 
an  array  of  most  gracious  sayings  and  doings  to 
supply  the  materials  of  such  a  demonstration. 
But  He  would  be  at  no  loss  where  to  find  the 
necessary  details  of  His  high  argument.  He 
had  but  to  refer  to  His  healing  miracles  and  to 
His  dealings  with  publicans  and  sinners,  to 
show  that  His  mission  was  to  fight  with  and 


THE  ACCEPTABLE  YEAR  OF  THE  LORD.   35 

conquer  physical,  social,  and  moral  evil  in  every 
shape,  and  so  to  inaugurate  the  acceptable  year 
of  the  Lord,  the  new  era  of  redeeming-  love. 

That  Christ's  discourse  was  of  this  tenor  the 
Evangelist  indicates  when  he  makes  use  of  the 
phrase  "  words  of  grace  "  to  denote  its  general 
character.  That  phrase,  indeed,  he  reckoned 
the  fittest  to  characterise  Christ's  whole  teach- 
ing as  recorded  in  his  gospel,  and  on  that  very 
account  it  is  that  he  introduces  it  here.  But  we 
may  assume  that  he  possessed  more  information 
concerning  the  contents  of  the  discourse  than  he 
has  communicated,  and  that  he  employs  the 
expression  "  words  of  grace  "  to  reflect  the  gene- 
ral impression  made  on  his  mind  by  the  details. 
The  discourse,  from  all  he  could  learn  from 
current  evangelic  tradition,  was  emphatically 
gracious  in  its  strain.  The  substance  was  redo- 
lent of  grace,  and  the  manner  of  the  speaker 
corresponded  :  the  countenance  lit  up  with  the 
sunshine  of  hope  for  the  world,  the  eye  moist- 
ened with  the  dew  of  sympathy,  the  whole 
frame  instinct  with  enthusiastic  energy;  all  com- 
bining to  make  a  powerful  impression  even  on 
stolid  Nazarenes,  whose  admiration  supplies  the 
crowning  proof  that  the  discourse  was  such  as 
is  represented  in  the  narrative.  Doubt  it  not, 
therefore,  that  sermon  in  the  synagogue  of 
Nazareth  was  eloquent  in  the  true  sense  of  the 
word.     Eloquence  means  speaking  so  that  all 


36   THE  ACCEPTABLE  YEAR  OF  THE  LORD. 

that  is  within  one  finds  utterance.  All  that 
was  within  Jesus  spoke  out  in  that  sermon,  yea, 
and  all  that  was  without  Him  too.  Would  that 
all  "  preachers  of  the  Gospel,"  so  called,  could 
preach  in  His  fashion,  with  the  air  of  men  that 
had  good  news  to  tell !  A  gospel  is  something 
that  makes  the  preacher  himself  happy,  and 
which  therefore  he  has  pleasure  in  communicating 
to  others.  He  therefore  is  no  preacher  of  a  gospel 
who  wears  a  gloomy  countenance,  and  exhibits 
a  depressed  bearing,  and  whose  words  sound 
like  words  of  doom,  rather  than  words  of  grace, 
as  if  he  had  come  forth  from  a  prison,  or  from 
some  sombre  abode  smothered  among  trees 
whose  branches  shut  out  the  fresh  air  and  the 
sunlight,  to  speak  to  his  fellowmen.  Judge  not 
Jesus  by  such  a  man  ;  in  matter,  manner,  spirit, 
this  modern  preacher  differs  toto^codn.  from  the 
genial,  joyous,  winsome  preacher  of  Nazareth. 

In  so  far  as  the  grace  of  the  gospel  is  con- 
cerned, then,  Luke  has  undoubtedly  shown  tact 
in  selecting  this  scene  to  be  the  frontispiece  of 
his  gospel.  Text  and  sermon  are  most  charac- 
teristic of  Christ's  whole  ministry,  as  reported, 
not  only  by  the  third  Evangelist,  but  by  all  his 
brethren.  No  better  motto  could  be  found  for 
that  ministry  than  the  prophetic  oracle  read  in 
the  synagogue  of  Nazareth.  If  Jesus  did  not 
actually  preach  His  first  discourse  from  it.  He 
might  have  done  so,  taking  occasion  therefrom 


THE  ACCEPTABLE  YEAR  OF  THE  LORD.       2>7 

to  draw  out  a  programme  of  His  work  as  the 
inaugurator  of  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord, 

In  respect  of  the  universal  destination  of  the 
Gospel,  this  scene  is  also  sufficiently  significant. 
In  this  connection,  indeed,  what  it  supplies  is 
rather  omens  than  distinct  intimations.  It  is 
hinted  that  prophets  accustomed  to  receive 
more  honour  every  where  than  in  their  own 
country,  are  apt  to  go  where  they  get  a  good 
reception.  The  anger  produced  by  the  hint 
suggests  the  thought  that  prophets  ill  received 
by  their  own  people  may  be  forced,  whether 
they  will  or  no,  to  go  elsewhere  with  their 
message.  The  attempt  on  the  life  of  Jesus 
foreshadows  the  tragic  event  through  which  the 
prophet  of  Nazareth  hoped  to  draw  to  Himself 
the  expectant  eyes  of  all  men.  The  departure 
of  Jesus  from  His  nativ^e  town  is  a  portent  of 
Christianity  leaving  the  sacred  soil  of  Judsea, 
and  stepping  forth  into  the  wide  world  in  quest 
of  a  new  home.  Significant  traits  all  these 
justly  appeared  to  the  eye  of  Luke  the  Pauline 
evangelist. 

The  two  features  most  prominent  in  this 
frontispiece  are  just  the  salient  characteristics 
of  the  Christian  era.  It  is  the  era  of  grass, 
and  of  grace  free  to  all  mankind.  And  on 
these  accounts  it  is  the  acceptable  year  of  the 
Lord.  It  is  acceptable  to  God,  for  God  is 
the  God  of  grace  above  all  things,  and  it  is  His 


38   THE  ACCEPTABLE  YEAR  OF  THE  LORD. 

pleasure  to  embrace  in  His  gracious  purpose, 
not  one  chosen  people,  but  all  peoples  that  dwell 
on  the  face  of  the  earth.  And  for  the  same 
reasons  it  should  be  acceptable  to  us.  We 
should  rejoice  in  the  era  to  which  we  belong, 
because  therein  God's  grace  is  manifest  and 
magnified.  It  is  to  our  loss  if  we  remain  igno- 
rant of  the  characteristics  of  the  era  under  which 
we  live,  and  belong  in  spirit  to  the  old  super- 
seded era  of  law  and  limited  privilege.  It  is  to 
our  shame  if,  knowing  these  characteristics,  we 
remain  indifferent  to  them,  and  still  more  if  we 
trample  them  under  foot. 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE   BEATITUDES. 


Matt.  v.  3-12  ;  Luke  vi.  20-23. 

The  Beatitudes  contain  Christ's  doctrine  of 
happiness.  A  strange  doctrine  it  must  sound 
to  worldly  ears  !  It  seems  a  series  of  paradoxes, 
or  even  contradictions,  amounting  together  to  a 
declaration  that  the  miserable  are  the  happy. 
Nowhere  does  the  boldness  of  the  Preacher  of 
Galilee  appear  more  conspicuously  than  in  these 
opening  sentences  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 
This  Man  has  faith  in  the  power  of  His  Gospel 
to  cope  with  every  ill  that  flesh  is  heir  to.  He 
speaks  as  one  who  has  good  news  for  all  classes 
of  men,  and  for  all  possible  conditions.  There 
is  no  human  experience  which  He  regards  with 
despair.  And  his  doctrine  is  as  original  as  it  is 
bold,  not  to  be  confounded  with  that  of  any 
philosophical  school.  It  is  not  stoicism.  The 
Stoic  preached  submission  to  misery  as  the  in- 
evitable, and  offered  to  his  disciples  the  peace 
of  despair.  Jesus  looks  on  evil  as  something 
that  can  be  transmuted  into  good,  and  for  all 


40  THE  BEATITUDES. 

sufferers  has  a  hope,  a  reward,  an  outlook.  It 
is  not  optimism.  The  optimist  denies  evil,  or 
explains  it  away,  and  thinks  to  cure  human 
misery  by  fine  phrases.  Jesus  admits  the  evil 
that  is  in  the  world,  and  speaks  of  it  in  plain 
terms  ;  only^  unlike  the  pessimist,  He  declines 
to  regard  it  as  final,  insurmountable. 

The  kind  of  happiness  Jesus  offers  is  obvi- 
ously something  novel  and  peculiar.  When  He 
says,  Blessed  are  the  poor,  the  hungry,  the 
sorrowful.  He  means  either  that  they  are  blessed 
in  spite  of  their  misery,  or  that  they  are  blessed 
through  their  misery.  In  either  case  the  blessed- 
ness must  be  something  different  from  what  the 
world  usually  accounts  happiness,  something  in 
the  soul,  not  in  the  outward  state.  Jesus  invites 
men  to  reach  felicity  by  the  method  of  inward- 
ness, representing  it  as  within  the  reach  of  all 
just  because  that  is  the  way  to  it. 

These  aphorisms  on  happiness  prefixed  to  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount  might  have  formed  a  part 
of  the  sermon  in  the  synagogue  of  Nazareth  on 
the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord.  Only  once 
written  in  the  evangelic  narrative,  they  might 
have  been  many  times  spoken.  They  would  have 
served  well  to  show  how  the  Scripture  quoted 
from  Isaiah  had  been  fulfilled,  and  to  describe 
the  nature  of  the  new  era  of  Grace.  They  might 
have  been,  possibly  they  were,  notes  sounded 
by  Jesus  on  the  trumpet  of  the  world's  jubilee. 


THE  BEATITUDES.  4 1 

They  are  certainly  among  the  most  character- 
istic utterances  of  the  new  era  of  Hope. 

It  has  been  remarked  of  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  that  it  seems  to  be  a  mixture  of  two 
distinct  sorts  of  doctrine,  one  specially  suited 
for  the  ears  of  disciples,  and  the  other  such  as 
might  suitably  be  addressed  to  the  multitude. 
In  the  judgment  of  critics,  the  former  kind  of 
doctrine  predominates,  so  that  the  sermon  may 
be  represented  as  a  disciple-discourse  with  popu- 
lar elements  interspersed.*  There  is  a  certain 
amount  of  truth  in  this  view,  and  the  mixture, 
discernible  throughout,  is  traceable  at  the  com- 
mencement. Some  of  the  Beatitudes  are  for 
mankind,  and  some  are  spoken  specially  for  the 
benefit  of  disciples.  One  set  contains  a  specific 
for  the  woes  of  humanity  at  large,  another  brings 
consolation  for  the  tribulations  of  saints.  The 
distinction  is  most  apparent  in  Luke's  version  of 
the  sermon.  There  three  Beatitudes  are  spoken 
to  the  poor,  the  hungry,  those  that  weep  ;  then 
follows  one  comprehensive  Beatitude  for  the 
faithful  servants  of  the  kingdom  suffering  for 
truth  and  righteousness.  It  was  necessary  that 
there  should  be  Beatitudes  for  both.  No  gospel 
is  complete  which  has  not  consolations  both  for 
sinners  and  for  saints,  for  ordinary  suffering 
mortals,  and  for  faithful  elect  souls  battling 
with  moral  evil.     It  was  natural  that  the  Beati- 

*  This  is  the  view  of  Keim. 


42  THE  BEATITUDES. 

tudes  for  men  in  general  should  take  precedence 
of  those  for  disciples.  For  the  poor,  the  hun- 
gry, the  tearful  are  the  majority,  the  million  ; 
nay,  the  larger  category  includes  the  less,  for 
disciples  are  men,  and  have  once  been  sufferers 
and  sinners  like  ordinary  mortals,  probably  are 
so  still ;  sufferings  for  righteousness  being  an 
additional  drop  in  their  bitter  cup.  The  first 
group  of  Beatitudes  thus  concern  all,  the  latter 
group  concerning  only  those  whose  vocation  it 
is  to  be  the  light  of  the  world,  and  the  salt  of 
the  earth.  We  shall  consider  the  two  groups 
separately,  first  the  universal  ones,  and  then  the 
special. 

The  universal  Beatitudes  are  in  number  three, 
the  first,  second,  and  fourth  in  Matthew's  list. 
Matthew's  third  Beatitude,  "  Blessed  are  the 
meek,  for  they  shall  inherit  the  earth,"  may  be 
regarded  as  a  variation  of  the  first.  The  meek 
are  the  downtrodden  and  oppressed  who  have 
no  share  in  this  world's  greatness,  and  \vho 
accept  their  situation  in  a  mild  and  quiet  spirit. 
They  are  tempted  to  fret  when  they  see  evil- 
doers prospering,  probably  at  their  expense, 
and  to  bear  a  bitter  grudge  against  workers  of 
iniquity.  But  they  bear  what  they  cannot  help, 
and  do  not  puzzle  themselves  about  the  mys- 
teries of  Providence.  And  the  promise  to  such 
as  live  in  this  way  is  that  in  the  long  run  things 
will  right  themselves,  and  put  the  meek  in  the 
place  of  the  proud. 


THE  BEATITUDES.  43 

The  Beatitudes  of  the  first  group  are  am- 
biguous in  form.  In  Luke's  version  of  the 
discourse  they  seem  to  refer  to  literal  poverty, 
hunger,  and  sorrow.  Christ  appears  there  say- 
ing, "Blessed  be  ye  poor;"  "Blessed  are  ye 
that  hunger  now  ;  "  "  Blessed  are  ye  that  weep 
now."  In  Matthew's  version  the  terms  em- 
ployed to  describe  the  classes  addressed  in  the 
twol^  first  of  these  sentences  have  attached  to 
them  qualifying  phrases  which  make  the  charac- 
teristics spiritual,  and  so  limit  the  scope  of  the 
sayings,  turning  them  in  fact  into  special  Beati- 
tudes pertaining  to  the  children  of  the  kingdom. 
If  the  question  be  asked  which  of  the  two  forms 
is  the  more  original,  our  judgment  inclines  to 
that  of  Luke.  Speaking  generally,  the  more 
pregnant  kernel-like  form  of  any  saying  of 
Jesus  is  always  the  more  likely  to  have  been 
that  actually  used  by  Him,  The  briefer,  less 
developed  form  is  most  in  keeping  with  the 
striking  originality  of  His  teaching.  Christ,  as  ~1 
befits  the  Sage,  loved  short  suggestive  sentences,  / 
revealing  much,  hiding  much,  arresting  atten-  ' 
tion,  taking  hold  of  the  memory,  provoking 
thought,  demanding  explanation.  Then  the 
very  breadth  of  the  announcements  in  Luke  is 
in  favour  of  their  being  the  authentic  utterances 
of  Jesus.  It  is  intrinsically  credible  that  He 
had  something  in  His  doctrine  of  happiness  for 
the  many,  for  the  million  ;  some  such  words  as 


//' 


44  THE  BEATITUDES. 

Luke  puts  into  His  mouth.  The  poor  in  spirit, 
the  mourners  for  sin,  the  liungerers  for  righte- 
ousness, are  a  very  select  band ;  only  a  few  of 
them  were  likely  to  be  found  in  any  crowd  that 
heard  Jesus  preach.  But  the  poor,  the  hungry, 
the  sad  are  always  a  large  company  ;  probably 
they  embraced  nine-tenths  of  the  audience  to 
which  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  was  spoken. 
Had  He  nothing  to  say  to  them  ;  to  catch  their 
ears,  and  to  awaken  hope  in  their  heavy-laden 
hearts .-'  Who  can  believe  it  that  remembers 
that  in  His  message  to  John  Jesus  Himself  de- 
scribed His  Gospel  as  one  especially  addressed 
to  the  poor .''  We  may,  therefore,  confidently 
assume  that  the  Preacher  on  the  Mount  began 
His  discourse  by  uttering  words  of  good  cheer 
to  those  present,  to  whom  the  epithets  poor, 
hungry,  sad,  were  applicable,  saying,  in  effect, 
to  such,  "  Blessed  are  ye  whom  the  world 
accounts  wretched."  It  was  a  strange,  startling 
saying,  which  might  need  much  exposition  to 
evince  its  truth  and  reasonableness,  but  it  was 
good  to  begin  with  ;  good  to  fix  attention,  pro- 
voke thought,  and  awaken  hope. 

Proceeding  now  to  consider  the  import  of 
these  surprising  declarations,  we  understand,  of 
course,  that  our  Lord  did  not  mean  to  pronounce 
the  poor,  hungry,  and  weeping  blessed,  simply 
in  virtue  of  their  poverty,  hunger,  and  tears. 
The  connection  between  these  classes  and  the 


THE  BEATITUDES.  45 

kingdom  of  Heaven  and  its  blessings  is  not 
quite  so  immediate.  Yet  Christ  was  not  mock- 
ing His  hearers  with  idle  words.  He  spoke 
gravely,  sincerely,  having  weighty  truths  in  His 
mind,  every  one  of  which  it  much  concerned 
the  children  of  want  and  sorrow  to  know.  One 
of  these,  the  most  immediately  obvious,  was 
that  the  classes  addressed  were  in  His  heart, 
that  He  cared  for  them,  sympathised  with  them, 
desired  their  well-being ;  in  a  word,  that  He  was 
the  poor  man's  Friend,  This  at  least  is  implied 
in  the  opening  sentence  of  the  sermon,  "Blessed 
are  ye  poor."  The  mere  fact  that  this  was  the 
opening  sentence  was  most  significant.  It 
showed  how  near  the  poor  lay  to  the  speaker's 
heart,  that  at  least  they  had  the  blessing  of  His 
most  earnest  sympathy.  Surely  a  thing  not  to 
be  despised !  In  those  days  the  poor  were 
many,  and  their  state  was  very  abject,  and  they 
had  few  friends.  They  pined  -through  a  dreary 
existence  unheeded,  their  misery  unalleviated 
by  the  charities  of  Christian  civilization.  But 
here  was  One  who  manifestly  pitied  and  loved 
them.  He  is  a  great  prophet  and  sage,  whose 
words  command  the  attention  of  all,  and  His 
first  w^ord  is  to  the  poor !  Why,  His  love  and 
pity  were  in  themselves  a  gospel  unspeakably 
soothing  and  comforting.  Then  how  sugges- 
tive such  love  in  such  a  Man  :  this  union  of 
humanity  with  wisdom  !      How  much  it  imports 


46  THE  BEATITUDES. 

that  the  Great  Teacher  is  also  the  poor  man's 
Friend  !  One  might  have  feared  that  the  poor 
would  be  beneath  His  notice  ;  that  He  would 
pass  them  by  as  people  for  whom  He  could  do 
nothing,  and  of  whom  He  could  make  nothing  ; 
too  engrossed  with  sordid  cares  to  become  the  dis- 
ciples of  wisdom.  Surely  the  poor  man's  era  is 
coming;  an  era  in  which  the  poor  shall  not  merely 
be  cared  for,  but  learn  to  think  new  thoughts  of 
themselves  and  their  state — learn  that  though 
a  man  be  poor  he  is  still  a  man,  and  may 
possess  most  real  riches  though  destitute  of 
silver  and  gold. 

This,  accordingly,  was  a  second  truth  Jesus 
meant  to  suggest  to  His  hearers  when  He 
uttered  these  Beatitudes.  The  word,  "Blessed  be 
ye  poor,  for  yours  is  the  kingdom  of  God,"  signi- 
fies that  the  children  of  want,  though  destitute 
of  this  world's  goods,  are  not  necessarily  without 
a  portion.  There  is  the  kingdom  of  God,  it  is 
accessible  to  them.  If  not  actually  theirs  now 
it  may  be  theirs,  their  poverty  notwithstanding. 
It  is  theirs  in  possibility  and  hope,  if  not  in 
present  possession.  Poverty  excludes  from 
many  earthly  enjoyments,  but  not  from  the 
blessings  of  the  kingdom.  These  are  within 
the  reach  of  the  poor  and  wobegone  not  less, 
to  say  the  least,  than  of  other  men. 

Under  this  aspect,  the  real  point  of  the  first 
Beatitude  lies  in  the  implied  assertion  that 
tJiere  is  such  a  thing  as  the  kingdom   of  God. 


THE  BEATITUDES.  47 

Christ's  purpose  is  to  put  a  new  idea,  a 
new  object  of  desire  and  hope  into  the  minds 
of  His  hearers.  He  refers  to  the  Kingdom 
of  God,  as  a  friend  of  the  poor  in  our  time 
might  refer  to  Austraha  or  the  western 
prairie-lands  of  America  as  a  sphere  in  which 
industry  might  find  for  itself  ample  and  hope- 
ful scope  ;  saying  to  the  subjects  of  his  philan- 
thropic sympathies,  "Why  pine  here  in  hopeless 
misery .-'  Yonder  in  the  far  west  are  millions 
of  acres  waiting  for  you^  on  whieh  you  may 
settle,  and  by  the  labour  of  your  hands  raise 
abundance  of  food  for  yourselves  and  your 
children."  So  Christ  says  in  effect :  "  O  ye 
poor,  hungry,  weeping  ones,  think  not  your  case 
is  desperate.  Blessedness  is  possible  even  for 
you ;  there  is  a  kingdom  of  God,  lift  up  your 
thoughts  to  it,  and  it  shall  be  well  with  you." 

Of  this  kingdom  of  God  Christ's  hearers  for 
the  most  part  had  but  the  vaguest  ideas,  many 
of  them  possibly  had  never  heard  of  it  before. 
When  they  heard  the  Preacher  mention  it,  they 
may  have  asked  themselves  :  Where  is  it,  what 
is  it,  this  happy  land,  where  the  poor  man  can 
bid  good-bye  to  his  misery  .''  and  in  all  likeli- 
hood their  thoughts  of  it  were  very  crude  and 
very  material.  Even  the  disciples  of  Jesus, 
many  days  after  they  joined  His  society, 
cherished  very  inaccurate  and  gross  conceptions 
of  the  kingdom  concerning  which  their  Master 


48  THE  BEATITUDES, 

SO  often  spoke.  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
therefore,  we  may  be  sure,  did  not  convey  full 
and  exact  information  to  the  miscellaneous 
audience  concerning  the  better  land.  At  most 
it  put  a  new  thought  into  their  minds,  started 
an  inquiry,  let  into  darkened  hearts  a  ray  of 
hope.  But  we  know  what  the  Speaker  had  in 
view.  He  wished  to  lift  His  hearers  up  to  the 
thought  that  human  life  is  more  than  meat,  and 
the  body  more  than  raiment,  that  there  are  two 
kinds  of  riches,  one  material,  another  in  the 
heart  of  man.  The  kingdom  of  God  of  which 
He  spoke  was  not  a  far  away  land  like  the 
north-west  of  Canada,  to  which  so  many  of  our 
countrymen  are  now  flocking,  seeking  escape 
from  bad  seasons,  and  high  rents,  and  ruined 
crops,  and  empty  stalls.  It  was  within  the 
breasts  of  the  men  and  women  before  Him,  if 
it'  was  anywhere  for  them.  It  zvas  there  for 
them  all  in  germ  and  possibility.  For  had  they 
not  all  minds  that  might  seek  after  wisdom, 
hearts  that  might  love  righteousness,  consciences 
that  might  attain  to  tranquillity  t  And  these 
goods  of  the  soul  acquired,  what  joy  was  within 
reach,  nay,  what  joy  was  in  actual  possession ! 
The  barrel  of  meal  might  be  empty,  and  the 
cruse  of  oil  fail,  but  nevertheless  the  man  who 
was  in  possession  of  wisdom,  righteousness,  and 
a  peaceful  conscience,  could  not  be  called  poor. 
He  had  a  treasure  that  might  fill  his  heart  with 


THE  BEATITUDES.  49 

gladness,  and  enable  him  to  bound  over  the 
rocky  places  of  life  with  the  nimbleness  of  a 
gazelle. 

The  kingdom  of  heaven  thus  conceived  may- 
appear  a  very  ethereal  thing,  a  most  insubstan- 
tial boon  to  offer  to  the  needy  and  sad.  What 
are  wisdom,  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  in  the 
Holy  Ghost  to  a  hungry  man  }  What,  indeed  ! 
And  yet  what  are  they  not,  supposing  a  hungry 
man  actually  to  possess  them  .-•  What  a  boon 
they  would  be  to  Ireland,  if  possessed  by  her 
poverty-stricken,  sad-hearted  children  !  They 
would  soon  settle  the  Irish  question,  soon  put 
an  end  to  assassinations,  soon  bring  even  ma- 
terial wealth  into  that  unhappy  land.  Is  the 
doctrine  that  there  is  a  kingdom  of  heaven  really 
then  of  no  account  ?  Can  we  part  with  the 
Beatitudes,  which  teach  that  doctrine,  without 
loss .''  Nay,  verily !  For  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  a  synonym  for  the  spiritual  nature  of 
man.  To  say  that  there  is  a  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  to  say  that  man  is  a  free,  moral  personality, 
that  he  is  a  man  and  not  a  beast,  that  a  man 
is  a  man,  in  spite  of  poverty,  and  hunger,  and 
tears.  It  is  what  all  the  poets  and  wise  men 
have  been  saying  from  the  beginning  of  time, 
in  one  dialect  or  another.  It  is  what  all  men 
and  nations  have  believed  who  have  come  to 
much  good.  It  is  what  our  poor,  sorrow- 
stricken  ones  must  believe  to  make  their  exist- 


50  THE  BEATITUDES. 

ence  on  this  earth  tolerable,  and  their  lives 
worth  living.  States  may  pass  away,  churches 
and  creeds  may  pass  away,  and  no  very  serious 
consequences  to  the  world  happen.  But  if  the 
human  race  itself  is  not  to  perish,  faith  in  a 
kingdom  of  heaven,  in  the  human  soul,  in  the 
spiritual  nature  of  man,  in  manhood  as  distinct 
from  beasthood,  must  abide ;  and  he  is  no  friend 
of  the  poor  who  encourages  them  to  treat  this 
truth  as  an  idle  dream  with  which  they  have  no 
concern.  It  has  been  said,  "  Justice  is  like  the 
kingdom  of  God,  it  is  not  without  us  as  a  fact, 
it  is  within  us  as  a  great  yearning."*  Even  if 
that  were  all  that  had  to  be  said,  it  were  still  of 
the  utmost  importance  to  respect  and  cherish 
the  yearning.  Jesus  Christ  was  the  friend  of 
the  poor,  not  merely  because  He  loved  them  and 
pitied  their  miseries,  but  because  He  preached 
the  doctrine  of  a  kingdom  of  heaven,  and 
preached  it  to  them  as  a  matter  in  which  even 
they  had  a  vital  interest,  as  offering  a  bliss  not 
inaccessible  to  the  most  poverty-stricken  and 
sorrow-laden. 

But  Jesus  meant  to  say  more  than  this  to  the 
poor  and  sorrowful :  more  than  "  I  feel  for  you  ; 
or,  the  bliss  of  the  kingdom  is  possible  for  you." 
He  meant  to  say  this  further  :  just  because  ye 
are  poor,  and  hungry,  and  sad,  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  neare}'  to  you  than  to  others.     Your 

*  Georc;e  Eliot  in  "  Romola." 


THE  BEATITUDES.  5  I 

very  misery  may  be  the  means  of  leading  you 
into  the  kingdom.     That  Christ  really  thought 
so,  His  whole  teaching  and  conduct  show.     He 
certainly   did    not,    as    some    pretend,    regard 
poverty  in  itself  as  a  virtue,  nor  wealth  in  itself 
as  a  sin.     But  He  did  teach  that  material  pos- 
sessions and  worldly  felicity  created  difficulties 
in  the  pursuit  of  eternal  life  from  which  poor 
men  by  their  very  poverty  were  exempt.     And, 
accordingly,  He  sought  disciples    chiefly  from 
among   the    ranks    of   the    poor,  as    believing 
that  they  were  most  likely  to  be  found  there. 
And  the  result  justified   the  policy ;  for  it  was 
mainly  from  the  humbler  class  of  society  that 
the    kingdom   Jesus    preached    drew    its    first 
citizens.     The  comfortable  classes  either  held 
entirely  aloof,  or  languidly  patronised  the  new 
religious  movement.     And  this  experience  con- 
stantly repeats  itself  in  history.     All  spiritual 
movements  find  their  earliest  and  most  enthu- 
siastic supporters  among  the  same  classes  from 
which  Jesus  drew  His  disciples — the  poor,  the 
sorrowful,  even  the  disreputable.     The  well-to- 
do  strike  in  when  the  movement  has  established 
itself  among  the  institutions  of  society  and  be- 
come respectable  ;  and  their  support  is  often  a 
very  doubtful  gain,  having  for  its  frequent  effect 
the  conversion  of  a  Divine  cause  into  a  merely 
human  custom,  an  Evangel  into  a  Pharisaism. 
It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  this,  to  see 


5^2  The  beatitudes. 

how  it  comes  to  pass  that  the  last  on  earth 
should  be  first  in  heaven,  the  remotest  from 
happiness  and  even  from  virtue  the  nearest 
to  the  kingdom  of  God.  Possession  and 
character  breed  self-satisfaction,  which  is  fatal 
to  aspiration.  He,  on  the  other  hand,  who 
has  neither  wealth  nor  character,  is  in  no 
danger  of  becoming  self-complacent,  and  can 
very  easily  be  convinced  that  he  might  in  all 
respects  be  better  than  he  is.  Then  the  life 
of  poverty,  sorrow,  and  passion  is  real  to  grim- 
ness ;  the  vain  show  which  conceals  truth  from 
the  eyes  of  the  world  is  rudely  torn  asunder  by 
hard  experiences.  But  to  be  in  contact  with 
reality  is  always  beneficial.  It  breeds  earnest 
thought,  serious  purpose,  longings  after  some- 
thing that  can  yield  true  contentment,  intense 
desire  to  know  the  secret  of  human  well-being. 
Thus  may  the  poor  man  come  to  have  his  ideas 
of  poverty  and  wealth  greatly  widened  and 
deepened,  so  as  to  embrace  the  inward  state  as 
well  as  the  outward.  He  attains  to  self-know- 
ledge through  the  discipline  of  want,  and  sees 
that  he  is  poor  indeed,  not  because  he  has  no 
gold,  but  because  he  lacks  the  treasure  of 
wisdom ;  and  that  he  is  hungry,  not  because  he 
is  without  the  bread  that  feeds  the  body,  but 
because  the  soul  has  not  received  that  which 
it  needs  and  craves.  Then  is  he  not  only  poor, 
but  poor  in  spirit;  then  is  he  not  only  hungry,  but 
he  hungers  after  righteousness  ;  then   does  he 


THE  BEATITUDES.  53 

not  only  weep  because  of  outward  calamities, 
but  he  mourns  over  the  distance  between  the 
actual  state  of  his  inner  life  and  the  spiritual 
ideal  revealed  to  his  purged  vision.  And  when 
he  has  become  poor,  hungry,  and  sad  in  this 
sense,  then  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven  with  its 
riches  and  consolations  not  only  near  him,  but 
within  him.  For  in  these  very  states  doth  the 
kingdom  of  God  consist. 

That  poverty  and  sorrow  should  have  these 
beneficent  results  is  by  no  means  a  matter  of 
course.  Not  all  the  poor  are  poor  in  the  mystic 
sense ;  not  all  the  hungry  are  hungerers  in  soul 
as  well  as  in  body ;  not  all  those  who  weep  are 
mourners  after  a  noble  sort.  These  natural 
states  do,  indeed,  always  more  or  less  open  up 
the  soul  to  spiritual  influence  of  some  kind. 
But  the  influence  may  be  demoniac  rather  than 
Divine.  Often,  perhaps  oftenest,  it  has  been 
such,  giving  birth  to  characters  and  movements 
having  affinity  with  the  kingdom  of  Satan  rather 
than  with  the  kingdom  of  God,  These  two 
kingdoms  and  their  Heads  compete  for  the  alle- 
giance of  all  whose  lot  on  earth  is  hard,  fully 
alive  to  their  spiritual  susceptibilities,  and  to  the 
value  of  conquests  from  among  those  whose 
tempers  want  and  pain  have  made  keen.  Such 
may  become  either  saints  or  devils,  according 
to  the  power  that  gains  the  upper  hand  ; 
commonplace  they  are  not  likely  to  be.     With 


54  THE  BEATITUDES. 

full  knowledge  of  this,  Jesus  speaks  to  them 
from  the  mount,  striving  to  bring  them  under 
His  beneficent  spell,  and  save  them  from  the 
malign  fascinations  of  the  wicked  one. 

Very  significant  is  the  place  occupied  by  the 
poor  in  the  heart  of  Jesus,  and  in  the  history  of 
nascent  Christianity.  It  gives  a  glimpse  into 
the  nature  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  showing 
it  to  be  before  all  things  a  kingdom  of  grace  ; 
for  what  else  can  that  be  whose  first  care  is 
for  the  destitute  and  forlorn,  the  proper  objects 
of  compassion  ?  It  also  teaches  the  church 
a  plain  duty,  and  suggests  an  obvious  lesson  as 
to  the  conditions  of  success  in  the  performance 
of  the  duty.  It  becomes  the  society  that  bears 
the  Christian  name  to  remember  that  by  the 
will  of  the  Master  the  poor  are  heirs  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  and  to  endeavour  to  put 
these  heirs  in  actual  possession  of  their  inherit- 
ance. But  for  this  purpose  one  qualification  is 
indispensable.  The  church  must  love  the  poor 
wath  an  unfeigned,  earnest,  disinterested  love. 
Those  whose  lives  are  hard  are  quick  to  discern 
real  from  simulated  sympathy.  Jesus  stood  the 
scrutiny  of  poverty's  keen  eyes.  Need,  sorrow, 
guilt,  despite  the  suspiciousness  native  to 
them,  were  compelled  to  admit  that  this  man 
w^as  the  Friend  of  social  abjects.  And  so  He 
gained  their  ear,  and  the  movement  with  which 
His  name  was  associated  was  in  consequence 


THE  BEATITUDES.  55 

largely  a  poor  man's,  a  publican's  and  sinner's 
movement.  If  the  same  true  love  were  in  the 
church  of  to-day  she  would  become  a  poor 
man's  church,  and  the  masses  of  our  population 
would  seek  admission  to  her  fold.  That  so 
many  are  without,  not  desiring  to  be  within,  is 
a  thing  of  evil  omen.  It  means  certainly  that 
the  powers  of  evil  are  busy  at  work  ;  means 
doubtless,  also,  that  the  children  of  light  have 
not  been  busy  enough.  But  it  means,  there  is 
reason  to  fear,  more  than  this — the  lack  of 
Christ's  spirit  of  sincere  intense  sympathy  with 
the  labouring  and  heavy  laden  portion  of 
humanity.  We  wish  to  love,  we  say  we  love, 
and  we  honestly  think  we  do.  But  the  keen 
eyes  of  the  hungry,  the  forlorn,  the  lapsed, 
search  us  through  and  through,  and  find  us 
wanting.  The  church  of  to-day,  in  all  its 
sections,  appears  to  these  classes  to  exist,  not 
for  them,  but  for  the  respectable,  well-to-do, 
middle  classes,  who  can  pay  for  pews,  and  who 
care  for  appearances,  and  covet  the  good  repute 
of  piety  ;  and  to  be  pervaded  by  a  spirit  which 
has  more  affinity  with  the  Pharisees  than  with 
Jesus,  A  melancholy  fact,  if  true.  In  propor- 
tion as  it  is  true,  or  is  believed  to  be,  the  popu- 
lation outside  the  pale  will  treat  the  church  as 
a  society  of  no  consequence  to  them,  severance 
from  which  entails  no  loss,  connection  with 
which  confers  no  blessedness. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   BEATITUDES— <r^7//W7/^^. 

We  have  now  to  consider  the  second  group  of 
Beatitudes,  spoken,  as  we  have  said,  /or  the 
special  benefit  of  disciples.  They  are  four  in 
all,  three  of  which  relate  to  disciple-character, 
the  remaining  one  bearing  on  the  lot  of  disciples 
in  this  world. 

"  Blessed,"  said  Jesus,  "  are  the  merciful,  for 
they  shall  obtain  mercy." 

"  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall 
see  God." 

"  Blessed  are  the  peace-makers,  for  they  shall 
be  called  the  children  of  God." 

In  this  triad  of  aphorisms  the  Preacher,  in 
the  first  place,  indicated  the  distinctive  moral 
attributes  of  disciples,  the  essential  virtues  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

In  forming  an  estimate  of  any  religion  or 
philosophy,  critical  importance  must  ever  be 
attached  to  its  ethics.  What  duties  does  it 
chiefly  enjoin  ;  what  moral  qualities  does  it 
most  warmly  commend  ;  what  is  its  list  of 
fundamental   virtues  .''      Jesus    recognised    the 


THE  BEATITUDES.  57 

legitimacy  of  the  test,  and  at  once  put  His  hearers 
in  a  position  for  judging.  "My  religion,"  He 
told  them  in  effect,  "  respects  and  requires  these 
things  above  all,  pity,  purity  of  heart,  peaceable- 
ness."  The  answer  is  such  as  we  should  have 
expected  from  one  who  regarded  it  as  His 
mission  to  preach  good  tidings  to  the  poor. 
The  ethics  of  Jesus  are  in  keeping  with  His 
Gospel,  whose  burthen  is  grace.  His  message 
to  the  world  was  :  God  is  gracious  ;  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  is  for  the  poor,  the  sad,  those 
who  have  nothing  to  give,  but  can  only  receive 
and  be  thankful.  His  demand  of  those  who  be- 
lieved this  message  was :  Be  ye  like  the  God 
whom  my  Gospel  proclaims,  practise  mercy, 
love  peace,  and  pursue  it  earnestly,  and  follow 
this  your  high  calling  with  singleness  of  mind. 

The  qualities  commended  and  implicitly  en- 
joined in  these  Beatitudes  need  little  explana- 
tion. The  first,  me rcif illness,  is  best  understood 
when  viewed  in  connection  with  the  classes  to 
whom  the  first  group  of  Beatitudes  are  addressed. 
The  spirit  of  pity  breathes  in  these  benignant 
sentences,  and  Jesus  bids  His  disciples  cherish 
His  own  spirit  and  show  compassion  towards 
those  who  want  and  weep.  The  import  of  the 
second  requirement,  purity,  is  less  obvious. 
The  term  most  readily  suggests  to  our  thoughts, 
chastity,  or  more  generally,  holiness.  But  what 
our  Lord  had  in  view  was  rather  purity  of  mo- 


58  THE  BEATITUDES. 

tive,  singleness  of  mind,  absolute  devotion  to 
the  interests  and  work  of  the  kingdom.  A 
pure  heart  is  a  heart  united  in  the  love  of  God 
and  man,  not  drawn  opposite  ways  by  contend- 
ing affections ;  by  the  love  of  righteousness  on 
the  one  hand,  and  by  lusts  and  passions  aiming  at 
selfish  gratifications  on  the  other.  The  opposite 
of  a  pure  heart  is  a  double  heart,  the  heart  of 
the  "  two-souled  man "  of  whom  St  James 
speaks,  and  whom  he  represents  as  unstable 
in  all  his  ways.*  Purity  thus  defined  was  a 
quality  on  which  Jesus  was  wont  to  insist  as  an 
indispensable  requisite  of  genuine  discipleship. 
Only  from  such  as  had  pure  hearts,  "  good  and 
honest,"  noble  in  aim,  and  devoted  to  their  aim, 
did  He  expect  any  fruitfulness.  All  others 
He  expected  to  prove  but  temporary,  or,  at 
least,  unsatisfactory  disciples  ;  like  grain  sown 
on  rocky  ground,  destined  to  be  scorched  by 
the  heat  of  trial,  or  in  thorny  soil,  doomed  to  be 
choked  by  the  thorns  and  never  to  ripen. 

The  third  requirement  of  disciples,  that  they 
be  peace-makers,  is  best  understood  when  re- 
garded as  the  complement  of  the  one  going 
before.  St  James  writes,  "  The  wisdom  that  is 
from  above  is  first  pure,  then  peaceable.''^  So 
here.  He  who  is  the  wisdom  of  God  incarnate, 
having  spoken  of  purity,  proceeds  next  to 
mention    peaceableness.      The   saying   of  the 

*  James  i.  8.  +  Jaines  iii.  17. 


THE  BEATITUDES.  59 

apostle  may  be  a  reminiscence  of  the  utterance 
of  the  Master.  In  any  case,  the  juxtaposition 
in  gospel  and  epistle  of  the  two  attributes 
points  to  a  latent  connection  between  the  two. 
In  aphoristic  discourse,  indeed,  we  may  not  too 
curiously  enquire  into  connections  of  thought. 
Each  sentence  stands  by  itself,  a  complete  whole. 
Yet  even  in  such  discourse  the  subtle  laws  of 
association  are  at  work,  influencing  the  order 
of  utterance,  and  causing  one  word  to  arise  out 
of  another.  We  may  therefore  assume  that 
all  these  eight  aphorisms  are  knit  together  by  a 
network  of  unexpressed  relations  hidden  beneath 
the  surface.  Nor  is  it  very  difficult  to  suggest 
the  links  which  connect  the  aphorism  concern- 
ing purity  with  that  concerning  peace.  The  two 
qualities  mutually  supplement  and  guard  each 
other.  Peace  helps  to  define  purity,  and  purity 
peace.  Either  tests  the  other,  secures  its  genuine- 
ness, excludes  the  counterfeit.  There  is  a  purity, 
a  zeal  for  the  kingdom,  which  is  contentious; 
and  there  is  a  peace  which  is  bought  by  a  com- 
promise impossible  for  the  single-hearted  servant 
of  God  ;  a  peace  which  only  they  can  take  part 
in  making,  whose  supreme  guide  in  conduct  is 
selfish  prudence.  Christ  excludes  both  counter- 
feits by  conjoining  the  two  Beatitudes  which, 
taken  as  a  couplet,  enjoin  on  the  one  hand  a 
peaceable  purity,  and  on  the  other,  a  pure 
peaceableness.   The  former  is  a  devotion  purged 


6o  THE  BEATITUDES. 

from  ambition,  the  latter  a  love  of  peace  as- 
sociated with  principle.  Such  a  devotion  may 
give  rise  to  division  ;  it  did  so  in  the  case  of 
Christ  Himself;  but  it  will  do  so  involuntarily 
and  with  regret.  Such  a  love  of  peace  will  en- 
deavour as  much  as  is  possible  to  live  on  terms 
of  good-will  with  all  men,  and  to  promote  har- 
mony and  concord  all  around ;  but  it  will  have 
nothing  to  do  with  a  peace  which  amounts  to 
a  denial  of  the  difference  between  the  kingdom 
of  God  and  the  kingdom  of  Satan.  Thus  to 
blend  together  two  attributes  often  found  in 
antagonism  is  the  task  and  the  art  of  wisdom. 

The  possessors  of  these  three  qualities  Jesus 
pronounced  happy.  Blessed^  said  He,  are  the 
merciful,  the  pure,  the  peace-makers.  The 
declaration  implies  that  the  virtues  commended 
are  rare,  high,  difficult,  heroic,  but  it  implies 
more,  even  that  the  man  who  practises  these 
virtues  is  blessed  in  his  deed,  possesses  felicity 
as  rare  as  is  his  excellence.  The  nature  of  his 
felicity  is  indicated.  Each  virtue  has  its  appro- 
priate reward,  and  contributes  its  quota  to  the 
sum  of  bliss.  The  peculiar  bliss  of  the  merciful 
is  that  they  obtain  mercy.  This  fact  rests  on 
the  law  that  like  produces  like  in  God  and  in 
men.  The  merciful  get  the  benefit  of  Divine 
mercy,  and  awaken  by  their  behaviour  a  merci- 
ful mood  in  their  fellow-creatures.  This  law 
occupies  a  prominent  place  in  the  teaching  of 


THE  BEATITUDES.  6 1 

Christ.     And    it   is    a    real  law   of   the    moral 

universe,  however  it   is  to  be  adjusted   to  our 

theological  systems.     It  fulfils  itself,  doubtless, 

in  ways   inscrutable,   but  in   some  respects  its 

action  is  simple  and  intelligible.     Thus,  looking 

at  the  law  on  the  Godward  side,  is  it  not  certain 

that  only  the  merciful  man  can  believe  in  Divine 

mercy  }     Christ  preaches  a  beneficent  gospel  of 

grace,  telling  men  that  God  is  a  loving  Father, 

who  pities  the  poor,  the  sick,  the  sorrowful,  the 

sinful.     But  the  pitiless  man  does  not  believe 

this.     In  the  first  place,  he  does  not  wish  to 

believe  it,  for  it  would  make  him  uncomfortable 

in  the  midst  of  his  heartlessness  to  think  of 

God  as  so  entirely  different  from  himself.     But, 

moreover,  he  cannot  believe  it,  cannot  so  much 

as  conceive  it.     The  gospel  of  Divine  love  must 

needs  appear  to  him   an  idle  tale.     The  only 

God  he  can  believe  in  is  a  Being  as  hard,  and 

cold,  and  selfish  as  himself:  a  God  who  enjoys 

His  own  felicit}-,  and  cares  nothing  for  wretched 

insignificant  mortals ;  an  Almight>'  Tyrant,  who, 

to  advance   His  own    interest  or   glor\-,  could 

trample   the   whole   human    race    under    foot 

Such  is  the  inevitable  penalty  of  mercilessness. 

Inhumanity  has  for  its  inseparable  companion  a 

theolog}-  in  which  pity  has  no  place. 

The  bliss  of  the  merciful,  on  the  contrar}-,  is 
that  they  can  receive,  with  mind,  heart,  and 
conscience,  the  great  fact  of  God's  mercy ;  give 


62  THE  BEATITUDES. 

it  a  central  place  in  their  creed,  get  heart's  ease 
from  faith  in  it  in  view  of  life's  sorrows,  and 
peace  of  conscience  in  view  of  moral  short- 
coming.    No  small  boon  truly  ! 

If  the  reward  of  the  merciful  be  to  enjoy  the 
comfort  of  God's  mercy,  the  guerdon  of  the  pure  in 
heart  is  to  enjoy  the  vision  of  God.     The  pure, 
who  with  singleness  of  heart  seek  the  Divine 
kingdom,  "see"  God,  know  Him  as  He  is  in  His 
moral  being,  have  fellowship  with  Him  so  known. 
This  is  a  still  higher  felicity.     Pardon,  peace  of 
conscience,    assurance    of    Divine    favour,    are 
precious  blessings,  but  to  behold  the  beauty  of 
the  Lord  is  the  boon  above  all  desired  by  faith- 
ful souls.     This  vision  is  vouchsafed  to  all  the 
pure,  not  in  promise  only,  but  in  present  posses- 
sion.    They  shall  see  God,  doubtless,  but  they 
do  see  Him  even  now.     They  cannot  but  see 
Him,     They  can  see  Him  in  their  own  hearts, 
in  proportion  to  its  purity.     The  reflection  of 
the  sky  is  seen  without  fail  in  a  still  clear  lake 
in  a  summer  day.     Even  so,  in  the  heart  de- 
voted to  the  true,  and  the  good,  and  the  fair, 
undisturbed    by   the    perturbing    influence    of 
selfish,  base,  desire  and  passion,  unpolluted  by 
by-ends  and  self-seeking,  the  image  of  God  can 
be  clearly  descried.     Man's  moral  nature  and 
God's  are  essentially  one.     God  is  light,  and  in 
Him  is  no  darkness  at  all.     The  man  of  pure 
heart  is  light  also.     For  him  self-knowledge  is 


THE  BEATITUDES.  63 

Divine  knowledge.  He  knows  God  in  the  very 
act  of  loving  the  good  ;  knows  Him  and  has 
fellowship  with  Him.  "We  have  fellowship 
one  with  another,"  says  the  Apostle  John, 
speaking  of  the  Christian  and  his  God  ;  the 
reason  being  that  God  is  light,  and  that  the 
Christian  walks  in  the  light.  True  it  is  that  of  no 
Christian  can  it  be  said,  as  of  God,  that  in  him 
is  no  darkness  at  all.  The  pure  in  heart  all 
have  defects.  Nevertheless  their  purity  is  real, 
and  so  highly  valued  of  God,  that  in  Scripture 
dialect  the  man  of  pure  heart,  or  single  mind, 
is  called  perfect,  his  infirmities  notwithstanding. 
And  as  the  purity  may  be  maintained  in  the 
midst  of  sins  of  infirmity,  so  the  vision  may  be 
very  real  and  blessed  before  we  reach  the  land 
of  uprightness,  when  all  moral  defect  shall  have 
passed  away. 

The  pure  in  heart  may  not  have  much  share 
in  this  world's  honours  and  prosperity.  These 
things  fall  for  the  most  part  into  the  hands  of 
those  who  are  guided  by  the  maxims  of  selfish 
prudence.  The  single  heart  is  often  constrained 
by  its  love  of  the.  good  to  choose  a  path  which 
it  knows  quite  well  leads  away  from  the  prizes 
coveted  by  men  of  the  world.  Such  a  choice 
the  world  laughs  at.  Singleness  of  mind  in 
such  cases  appears  to  men  of  commonplace 
morality,  foolishness  bordering  on  imbecility. 
And  from  their  point  of  view  they  judge  rightly. 


^ 


64  THE  BEATITUDES. 

Nevertheless  waste  not  your  pity  on  this  fool, 
as  you  call  him.  He  obtains  that  which  he 
values  more  than  all  he  misses.  He  loses  the 
world,  but  by  way  of  compensation  he  attains 
to  the  vision  of  God.  He  beholds  God's  face 
in  righteousness,  and  is  satisfied  when  he  awakes 
with  His  likeness. 

To  the  peace-makers  is  awarded  the  distinc- 
tion of  being  called  the  children  of  God.  This 
is  what  Christ  Himself  thinks  of  them.  They 
are,  in  His  esteem,  worthy  to  be  called  the 
children  of  God.  This  shows  us,  by  the  way, 
what  idea  He  has  of  God.  God,  in  the  theo- 
logy of  Jesus,  is  the  great  Peace-maker ;  the 
King  of  all  whose  thoughts  are  thoughts  of 
peace.  The  conception  is  in  full  accord  with 
the  song  of  the  angels,  which  connects  the  glory 
of  God  in  the  highest  with  peace  on  earth  ;  and 
with  the  doctrine  of  Paul,  when  he  sums  up  the 
cardinal  interests  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in 
righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 
It  is  of  the  utmost  moment  that  this  idea  of  the 
Divine  character  should  prevail.  Its  currency 
means  the  ascendancy  of  peaceable  dispositions. 
Let  the  God  of  Christendom  be  the  God  of 
Peace,  and  men  will  no  longer  imagine  that  they 
do  Him  service  by  religious  controversy  fatal  to 
charity  and  to  the  fellowship  of  saints.  It  is  be- 
cause Christendom  has  extensively  worshipped 
another  god  that  the  Christian  Church  presents 


THE  BEATITUDES.  65 

the  melancholy  spectacle  of  a  house  divided 
against  itself,  a  society  once  one  and  catholic 
split  up  into  innumerable  sections,  more  or  less 
alienated  from  each  other.  The  Church  has 
taken  her  watchword  from  Moses  rather  than 
from  Jesus,  and  said,  "Jehovah  is  a  Man  of 
war,"  instead  of,  "God  is  the  God  of  peace." 
Both  mottos  are  true,  but  how  much  depends 
on  the  relative  positions  assigned  to  them  in  our 
creed ! 

The  spirit  of  the  world  within  the  Church  and 
without  is  so  much  addicted  to  strife  that  the 
peacemakers  are  not  likely  to  be  held  in  high 
esteem.  Yet  there  are  times  when  even  war- 
riors grow  weary  of  battle,  and  then  the  peace- 
maker has  his  reward.  Christ  had  this  fact  in 
view  when  He  pronounced  this  Beatitude.  He 
meant  to  express  not  merely  His  own  judgment, 
but  the  verdict  of  history.  He  encourages  the 
peace-loving  to  persevere  in  their  efforts  to  com- 
pose strife  by  the  assurance  that  a  time  will 
come  when  the  world  will  recognise  their  worth. 
Looking  back  on  the  controversies  of  a  bygone 
age,  the  historian  will  see  that  while  the  mass 
of  men  were  ranged  on  this  side  or  on  that,  and 
were  animated  by  the  passions  of  their  party, 
and  cared  for  nothing  beyond  party  interests, 
and  loved  to  be  called  by  party  names,  there 
were  some  that  breathed  a  serener  air,  and  lived 
for  the  whole  and  not  for  the  part ;  and,  recog- 
E 


66  THE  BEATITUDES. 

nising  the  purity  of  their  motives,  and  with  the 
mischiefs  wrought  by  these  past  controversies 
in  full  view,  he  will  pay  a  sincere  tribute  of 
respect  to  the  peacemakers,  as  the  redeeming 
feature  of  an  evil  time.  And  when  he  speaks 
of  them  what  will  he  call  them  ?  For  each 
party  and  fragment  of  a  party  the  page  of  his- 
tory has  its  appropriate  name ;  but  what  name 
shall  be  given  to  the  men  of  no  party,  of  wide- 
ranging  views,  and  irenical  spirit  ?  The  secular 
historian  shuns  a  religious  dialect,  and  is  not 
likely  to  call  such,  after  Christ,  "  the  children  of 
God  ;  "  but  he  says  the  same  thing  under  differ- 
ent phrases. 

"  The  children  of  God,"  august  name !  High 
surely  is  the  dignity  of  those  on  whom  it  is  con- 
ferred !  But  alas,  so  far  as  men  are  concerned, 
it  is  for  the  most  part  a  posthumous  dignity, 
conferred  after  the  recipients  have  entered  into 
the  peace  of  the  grave.  Even  in  their  lifetime, 
indeed,  they  are  the  children  of  God,  whatever 
they  may  be  accounted.  But  their  dignity  is 
concealed,  and  their  persons  are  not  respected. 
A  society  divided  into  opposite  camps  loves 
strong  partisans,  and  dislikes  the  men  of  wide 
sympathies.  It  expresses  its  dislike  by  names 
far  from  complimentary.  "  Trimmers,  time- 
servers,  traitors,"  such  are  some  of  the  titles 
given  to  the  peacemakers  by  a  world  possessed 
by  the  spirit  of  party.     Sometimes  the  nick- 


THE  BEATITUDES.  67 

names  are  deserved  ;  for  a  time  of  war  brings 
strong  temptations  to  an  interested  neutrality ; 
and  there  is  no  room  for  regret  when  sham 
peacemakers  are  exposed,  and  their  true  charac- 
ter unmasked.  But  noble  men  are  often  con- 
founded with  base  counterfeits  by  a  community 
in  a  suspicious,  jealous  mood;  and  some  are 
reckoned  Judases  who,  in  the  view  of  the  Omni- 
scient, are  the  very  children  of  the  God  of 
peace. 

Yet,  even  in  such  a  case,  the  title  is  no  barren 
honour.  The  despised  or  suspected  one  has 
always  the  consciousness  of  being  on  God's  side 
to  fall  back  on,  and  therein  finds  true  consola- 
tion. If  his  overtures  of  peace  be  rejected  with 
scorn,  his  peace  returns  to  him,  to  bless  his  own 
soul.  This  truth  Avas  illustrated  in  Christ's  own 
experience.  The  Jewish  world  of  His  time  was 
given  up  wholly  to  sect  and  party  and  partisan 
animosities.  Party  spirit  was  everywhere,  and 
the  Spirit  of  God  nowhere.  He  was  of  no 
party :  Pharisees,  Sadducees,  Herodians,  &c., — 
from  all  alike  He  held  aloof,  and  went  on  his 
own  way,  concerned  only  for  the  interest  of  the 
Divine  kingdom,  and  the  glory  of  His  Father. 
In  consequence  and  of  course  He  was  heartily 
hated  by  all  the  parties  who  were  united  only  in 
suspecting,  vilifying,  and  conspiring  against  Him. 
But  He  enjoyed  unbroken  tranquillity  of  mind 
notwithstanding.     Nay,  His   peace  was   estab- 


68  THE  BEATITUDES. 

Hshed  and  enhanced  by  the  contradictions  of 
men.  The  gainsaying  of  the  parties  was  one  of 
the  signs  by  which  He  knew  himself  to  be  the 
Son  of  God.  To  be  evil  spoken  of  by  men  under 
the  dominion  of  party  spirit  was  not  less  neces- 
sary to  the  proof  of  sonship,  than  to  be  well 
esteemed  by  the  children  of  true  wisdom. 

These  remarks,  into  which  we  have  been  led 
by  our  efforts  to  penetrate  into  the  hidden  sense 
of  the  Beatitude  pronounced  on  the  peace- 
makers, help  us  to  understand  how  Christ, 
having  uttered  this  word,  proceeded  next  to 
offer  consolations  to  disciples  suffering  perse- 
cution. To  the  Beatitude  containing  these  con- 
solations we  now  turn. 

This  last  of  the  Beatitudes,  bearing  on  the 
lot  of  disciples  in  the  world,  is  more  expanded 
than  all  the  rest.  Both  lot  and  consolation  are 
described  in  varied  forms  of  language,  indicat- 
ing strong  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  Speaker, 
arising  doubtless  out  of  His  own  experience. 

As  to  the  lot  of  disciples,  one  would  say 
beforehand  that  the  state  of  men  who  are  by 
character  and  vocation  merciful,  pure-hearted, 
and  lovers  of  peace,  ought  to  be  a  very  tran- 
quil one.  But  Jesus  bids  His  faithful  ones 
expect  far  other  fortunes.  Their  life  He  pro- 
nounces blessed,  but  He  forewarns  them  it  will 
have  its  tribulations.  These  tribulations  He 
sums    up    under    two   heads — persecution    and 


THE  BEATITUDES.  69 

obloquy;  evil  speech  and  evil  deeds  to  the  injury 
of  their  name  and  person,  inflicted  on  them  as 
the  advocates  of  truth  and  righteousness.  It 
needed  considerable  courage  to  speak  so  plainly 
of  the  dark  prospects  of  discipleship.  But  it 
was  ever  Christ's  way  to  deal  frankly  with  can- 
didates for  admission  to  His  society.  He  ap- 
pealed to  the  heroic  side  of  human  nature,  reck- 
oning that  by  this  way  He  would  keep  out  all 
the  wrong  kind,  and  that  men  of  the  right  sort 
would  not  be  scared.  He  knew  that  none  but 
the  heroic  could  endure,  and  therefore  He 
expressed  Himself  in  terms  which  served  for 
a  preliminary  test  of  temper. 

But  He  had  another  reason  for  such  plainness 
of  speech.  He  knew  that  the  disciple's  life,  in 
spite  of  all  drawbacks,  was  a  blessed  life,  full  of 
exhilaration  and  triumph,  attended  by  a  sense 
of  moral  elevation  and  a  buoyancy  of  spirit 
which  richly  compensated  for  all  drawbacks. 
This  in  effect  He  told  His  hearers,  in  setting 
forth  the  happiness  of  the  persecuted.  The 
glowing  sentences  in  which  this  is  done  form 
the  copestone  of  Christ's  doctrine  of  happiness. 
Here  we  reach  the  Alpine  heights,  the  snow- 
capped peaks  of  Christian  felicity.  Who  shall 
ascend  these  mountain  summits .''  Those  to 
whom  are  given  the  feet  of  the  chamois,  so  that 
they  can  walk  securely  on  the  high  places. 

"  Blessed    arc    they  who    arc    persecuted   for 


70  THE  BEATITUDES. 

righteousness  sake,  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven."  The  promise  is  vague,  for  it  is  the 
same  which  is  made  to  the  poor  in  the  first 
Beatitude.  But  it  is  not  inappropriate,  for  the 
persecuted  are  the  poor  of  this  world,  who  have 
become  poor  for  Christ's  sake.  Their  poverty 
is  not  a  matter  of  natural  lot,  but  of  penalty  for 
fidelity  to  duty.  And  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  not  as  in  the  case  of  the  literal  poor  in 
possibility  merely,  but  in  actual  possession.  In 
proportion  as  they  suffer  loss  for  God,  do  they 
enter  into  possession  of  the  bliss  of  the  king- 
dom.    They  have  eternal  life. 

As  if  to  assure  His  hearers  that  He  meant 
what  He  said,  Jesus  repeats  his  affirmation  in 
varied  phraseology. 

"  Blessed  are  ye  when  men  shall  revile  you 
and  persecute  you,  and  shall  say  all  manner  of 
evil  against  you  falsely  for  my  sake  ;  rejoice  and 
be  exceeding  glad  ;  for  great  is  your  reward  in 
heaven,  for  so  persecuted  they  the  prophets 
which  were  before  you." 

"  Rejoice  and  be  exceeding  glad,''  says  the 
Preacher.  He  does  not  command  the  impos- 
sible. Exultation  is  an  attainable  mood  for 
the  persecuted.  Nay,  it  is  the  characteristic 
mood  of  the  moral  hero.  He  rejoices  in  hope, 
is  patient  in  tribulation,  continues  instant  in 
prayer,  committing  his  cause  confidently  to 
God.     Depression,  languor,  emmi  are  states  to 


THE  BEATITUDES.  7 1 

which  he  is  a  stranger.  These  are  the  moods 
of  dwellers  in  the  vales,  whose  lives  are  spent 
in  ignoble  ease,  not  of  the  hardy  mountaineer. 

Very  significant  is  the  reference  to  the  pro- 
phets. "So  persecuted  they  the  prophets  which 
were  before  you."  You  are  in  good  company, 
you  belong  to  a  noble  select  band,  God's  pio- 
neers, the  salt  of  the  earth,  the  light  of  the 
world — let  that  fact  alone  be  consolation  for  all 
drawbacks.  Who  would  decline  the  honour  of 
belonging  to  such  a  society,  having  such  a  voca- 
tion, on  account  of  a  little  temporary  hardship  ; 
preferring  exclusion  from  the  roll  of  heroes  in 
heaven,  to  participation  in  the  tasks  of  heroes 
on  earth .-' 

Such  were  the  "  Beatitudes  "  of  Jesus.  They 
show  conclusively  that  the  Galilean  gospel  was 
a  gospel  indeed.  Jesus  had  a  word  of  consola- 
tion and  good  hope  for  every  conceivable  ill  in 
human  experience,  whether  of  sinner  or  of  saint. 
And  these  words  are  as  good  for  to-day  as  for 
the  time  when  they  were  spoken.  We  have 
still  the  poor  with  us  in  need  of  consolation, 
and  no  message  can  ever  be  spoken  to  them  of 
greater  value  than  that  which  affirms  the  exist- 
ence of  a  kingdom  of  heaven,  or,  in  other  words, 
reminds  them  that  man  is  a  spiritual  being. 
Still,  also,  we  have  heroes,  or  at  least  have  need 
of  them,  and  tasks  for  them  to  do  ;  need  of  men 
capable  of  being  the  salt  of  the  earth,  and  who 


72  THE  BEATITUDES. 

shrink  not  from  the  high  vocation,  with  all  its 
drawbacks,  animated  by  a  Saviour-spirit,  the 
true  mark  of  election,  and  understanding  that 
the  elect  are  chosen  not  for  their  own  sakes,  or 
to  enjoy  a  monopoly  of  Divine  favour,  but  to  be 
the  pioneers  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  to 
labour  for  its  coming  over  all  the  earth.  For 
such  Christ's  consolations  are  intended.  They 
have  need  of  them,  and  they  are  such  as  suit 
their  case  and  temper.  For  the  counterfeit 
elect  who,  like  Israel  in  her  degeneracy,  think 
they  are  chosen  for  their  own  sake,  no  consola- 
tions are  necessary,  and  none  are  supplied. 
They  are  salt  which  hath  lost  its  savour,  and 
the  doom  appointed  for  them  by  the  Preacher 
on  the  Mount  is,  "to  be  cast  out,  and  to  be 
trodden  under  foot  of  men." 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE   HEALER   OF   SOULS. 

"  They  that  be  whole  need  not  a  physician,  but  they  that  are 
sick." — Matt.  ix.  12. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  facts  in  the  life  of 
our  Lord  is  that,  by  the  censure  of  contempo- 
raries, He  was  obliged  repeatedly  to  defend 
Himself  for  loving  the  sinful.  It  is  a  fact  by 
which  we  may  measure  the  moral  progress  of 
the  world  under  the  influence  of  Christian  civil- 
isation. Now,  philanthropy  is  generally  prac- 
tised and  held  in  high  esteem ;  at  the  com- 
mencement of  our  era  it  created  surprise,  suspi- 
cion, disapprobation  in  the  minds  of  well-con- 
ducted persons.  The  difference  between  now 
and  then  is  so  great  that  one  finds  it  difficult  to 
realise  the  fact  stated,  and  specially  difficult  to 
think  kindly  of  the  faultfinders,  or  to  regard 
them  otherwise  than  as  men  of  exceptionally 
heartless  and  inhuman  spirit.  We  almost  hate 
those  self-righteous  Pharisees  for  making  it  a 
matter  of  reproach  to  Jesus  that  He  was  the 
"  Friend  of  publicans  and  sinners."     Yet  we  do 


74  THE  HEALER  OF  SOULS. 

Christ's  censors  injustice  by  looking  on  them  as 
rare  monsters  of  inhumanity.  They  were  sim- 
ply men  whose  thoughts  and  sympathies  were 
dominated  by  the  spirit  of  their  age.  For  the 
love  to  the  sinful  and  the  miserable  which  sur- 
prised them  so  greatly  was  a  new  thing  on  the 
earth,  whose  appearance  marked  the  beginning 
of  a  new  era,  well  called  the  era  of  Grace.  How 
utterly  new  and  foreign  to  the  spirit  of  the 
world  it  was  we  may  learn  by  observing  how  it 
struck  the  mind  of  a  heathen  philosopher  who 
lived  in  the  second  century  of  our  era,  some 
hundred  and  fifty  years  after  the  sinners'  Friend 
passed  away  from  the  earth.  Celsus  was  as 
much  astonished  at  this  fashion  of  loving  the 
bad  which  the  Nazarene  had  brought  in,  as  were 
the  Pharisees,  and  he  made  it  the  ground  of  one 
of  his  arguments  against  Christianity.  Finding 
the  preachers  of  the  Gospel  in  his  time  following 
their  Master's  example,  offering  salvation  to  the 
foolish  and  erring,  to  the  unlearned  and  ignor- 
ant, to  slaves,  women  and  children,  he  asked  in 
amazement  and  disgust,  "  Whence  this  prefer- 
ence for  those  of  least  account  and  esteem  .'*" 
In  contrast  to  the  strange  practice  of  Christians, 
the  practice  of  Pagans  in  inviting  to  initiation 
into  their  mysteries  men  of  pure,  exemplary, 
wise  lives,  seemed  to  him  simply  rational.  You 
Christians,  he  said,  address  to  men  this  call : 
Whosoever  is   a  sinner,   whosoever   is    unwise, 


THE  HEALER  OF  SOULS.  75 

whosoever  is  a  babe,  in  short,  whosoever  is  a 
good-for-nothing,  him  the  kingdom  of  God  will 
receive.  Others,  calHng  men  to  participation  in 
their  sacred  rites  say  :  Whoso  has  pure  hands, 
and  is  wise  of  speech,  whoso  is  clean  from  all 
impiety,  whoso  hath  a  conscience  void  of  offence, 
whoso  liveth  a  just  life,  let  him  come  hither, 
holding  such  language  even  when  promising  to 
those  invited  purification  from  sin.  Celsus 
thought  he  did  well  to  be  angry  with  the  Chris- 
tians for  their  perverse  sympathies,  and  in  like 
manner  the  Pharisees  believed  they  were  fully 
justified  in  finding  fault  with  Jesus  ;  and,  on  re- 
flection, we  can  see  that  in  either  case  the  feel- 
ing was  very  natural,  and  even  excusable.  For, 
as  already  stated,  the  love  of  the  Son  of  Man 
for  social  and  moral  outcasts,  and  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church  following  His  example,  was  indeed 
a  new  thing  under  the  sun,  and  it  is  the  fate  of 
all  new  things  to  be  found  fault  with,  and  to  be 
obliged  to  offer  apologies  for  themselves. 

Never  was  apology  more  felicitous,  or  more 
completely  successful  than  that  offered  by  Jesus 
for  his  conduct  in  loving  thosewho  were  called,  by 
wayof  unenviable  distinction, "sinners" — sinners, 
as  it  were,  writ  in  large  capitals.  That  apology  is 
one  of  the  finest  things  in  the  evangelic  records. 
It  is  remarkable  alike  for  beauty  and  for  wis- 
dom ;  exquisitely  simple,  yet  profoundly  sig- 
nificant and  suggestive.     It  consists  essentially 


76  THE  HEALER  OF  SOULS. 

of  three  sayings,  each  of  which  was  spoken  on 
a  different  occasion,  the  first  at  Matthew's 
feast,  the  second  in  the  house  of  Simon  the 
Pharisee,  the  third  on  the  occasion  when 
the  three  parables  of  the  lost  sheep,  the 
lost  coin,  and  the  lost  son,  were  uttered. 
Shortly  put,  the  three  sayings  are  :  "  The  whole 
need  not  a  physician,  but  they  that  are  sick;" 
"  they  to  whom  much  is  forgiven  love  much  ;  " 
"  there  is  a  peculiar  joy  experienced  by  all  man- 
kind, sympathised  with  by  all.  mankind,  in  find- 
ing things  and  persons  lost."  What  an  impulse 
it  would  give  to  the  life  of  the  Church  and  to 
her  work  at  home  and  abroad,  if  her  members 
generally  understood  the  scope,  and  felt  the 
force  of  those  apologetic  words  of  Jesus  ;  and 
what  joy  believing  men  would  find  in  their 
faith,  if  these  words  held  in  their  minds  the  place 
of  characteristic  mottos,  expressive  at  once  of 
the  inmost  spirit  of  God,  and  of  the  genius  of 
the  Christian  Religion  !  The  three  words  are 
certainly  well  deserving  of  study.  Let  us  con- 
sider the  first  of  them  now. 

"  They  that  be  whole  need  not  a  physician, 
but  they  that  are  sick."  This  word,  like  the 
two  others,  serves  two  purposes — an  immedi- 
ate apologetic  purpose,  and  a  permanent 
didactic  one.  Viewing  it  first  in  the  former 
aspect,  we  remark  that  the  point  of  the  saying 
lies  not  in  what  is  stated,  but  in  Avhat  is  implied 


THE  HEALER  OF  SOULS-  77 

— in  the  suggestion  that  Christ  tvas  a  Physician. 
That  understood,  all  becomes  plain.  For  no 
one  is  surprised  that  a  physician  visits  the  sick 
rather  than  the  healthy,  and  visits  most  fre- 
quently those  that  are  most  grievously  afflicted 
with  disease.  Nor  does  any  one  dream  of 
making  it  an  occasion  of  reproach  to  a  physician 
that  he  shrinks  not  from  visiting  those  whose 
maladies  are  of  a  loathsome  or  dangerous 
nature,  offensive  to  his  senses,  involving  peril 
to  his  life.  That  he  so  acts  is  regarded  simply 
as  the  display  of  a  praiseworthy  enthusiasm  in 
his  profession,  the  want  of  which  would  be 
reckoned  the  true  ground  of  reproach.  Regard 
Christ  as  a  physician,  and  He  at  once  gets  the 
benefit  of  these  universally  prevalent  sentiments 
as  to  what  is  becoming  in  one  who  practises 
the  healing  art. 

The  defence  is  at  once  simple  and  irresistible. 
And  here  we  may  advert  to  a  very  noticeable 
distinction  between  two  classes  of  our  Lord's 
parables  :  those,  viz.,  on  the  one  hand,  in  which 
He  describes  and  defends  His  own  conduct, 
and  those  on  the  other,  in  which  He  depicts  the 
conduct  of  the  unbelieving  and  ungodly.  In 
the  former  class,  the  behaviour  of  the  asfents 
appears  perfectly  natural  and  praiseworthy. 
All  feel  that  it  is  right  in  a  physician  to  visit  the 
sick,  and  in  a  shepherd  to  go  after  a  straying 
sheep,  and  in  a  housewife  to  search  for  a  lost 


yS  THE  HEALER  OF  SOULS, 

coin,  and  in  a  father  to  rejoice  over  the  return 
of  a  lost  son.  But  when  you  turn  to  a  parable 
like  that  of  the  Great  Feast,  and  read  how  all 
the  persons  invited  with  one  consent  refused 
to  come ;  or  like  that  of  the  Vinedressers, 
and  read  how  when  servants  are  sent  to  ask 
the  fruits,  the  husbandmen  instead  of  ren- 
dering the  fruits  treat  the  messengers  with 
contumely  and  violence,  you  at  once  feel  that 
the  actions  described  are  unnatural  and  im- 
probable. Whoever  heard  of  a  whole  company 
of  guests  refusing  to  go  to  a  feast ;  or  of  a 
band  of  workmen  so  outrageously  violating  their 
covenanted  obligations  .■'  Whence  this  strik- 
ing difference  .-*  It  comes  from  this,  that  the 
conduct  of  Jesus,  however  much  blamed,  was  in 
accordance  with  right  reason,  and  could  there- 
fore be  easily  defended  by  parallels  from 
natural  life ;  and  that  on  the  other  hand,  the 
conduct  of  those  who  despised  God's  grace,  and 
denied  His  rights,  however  common,  was  con- 
trary to  right  reason,  and  therefore  could  not 
easily  be  paralleled  by  scenes  from  natural  life, 
but  must  be  represented  in  parables  the  opposite 
of  probable  in  the  course  of  their  story.^ 

Returning  to  the  little  parable  of  the  physic- 
ian in  our  text,  we  remark,  that  had  the  critics 
of  Jesus  but  accredited  Him  with  the  character 
of  a  Healer  of  spiritual  maladies,  they  would 

*  Vide  "The  Parabolic  Teaching  of  Christ"  on  these  parables 


THE  HEALER  OF  SOULS.  79 

not  have  been  scandalised  by  His  habit  of 
associating  with  the  morally  and  socially  de- 
graded. But  that  Jesus  was  a  physician,  was 
just  the  thing  that  never  occurred  to  their  minds. 
And  why  }  Because  their  own  thoughts  and 
ways  went  in  a  wholly  different  direction, 
and  they  judged  Him  by  themselves.  The 
Rabbis  and  their  disciples  were  students  of 
the  law,  and  their  feeling  towards  such  as 
knew  not  the  law  was  one  of  simple  aversion 
and  contempt.  They  expected  Jesus  to  share 
this  feeling.  Men  are  ever  apt  to  make  them- 
selves the  standard  of  moral  judgment.  The 
Rabbi  expects  all  who  assume  the  function  of 
a  teacher  to  share  his  contempt  for  the  mul- 
titude ignorant  of  legal  technicalities  and 
niceties ;  the  philosophe  confining  his  sym- 
pathies to  the  cultivated  few,  regards  with  mild 
disdain  the  interest  taken  by  philanthropists  in 
popular  movements  ;  the  mystagogue  who  in- 
vites select  persons  to  initiation  into  religious 
mysteries,  adopts  for  himself,  and  expects  all 
others  belonging  to  the  spiritual  aristocracy  of 
mankind  to  adopt  along  with  him  the  sentiment  / 
of  the  Roman  poet :  "  I  hate  and  abhor  <J 
the  profane  rabble."  The  mass  of  mankind 
have  eternal  reason  for  thankfulness  that  Jesus 
Christ  came  not  as  a  rabbi,  or  as  a  philosophe, 
or  as  a  hierophant,  with  the  proud  narrow  con- 
tempt   characteristic    of    men    bearing    these 


8o  THE  HEALER  OF  SOULS. 

titles,  but  as  a  healer  of  souls,  with  the  broad 
warm  sympathies  and  the  enthusiasm  of  hu- 
manity congenial  to  such  a  vocation.  The 
fact  exposed  Him  to  the  censure  of  con- 
temporaries, but  by  way  of  compensation  it  has 
earned  for  Him  the  gratitude  of  all  after  ages. 

For  the  fact,  duly  pondered,  is  full  of  didactic 
meanings,  as  we  now  proceed  to  show, 

I.  It  means,  first,  that  Christianity  is  before 
all  things  a  religion  of  redemption.  Much  is 
involved  in  this.  If  such  be  its  character,  then 
to  be  true  to  itself  Christianity  cannot  afford 
to  be  nice,  dainty,  fastidious,  disdainful ;  but 
must  be  willing  to  lay  its  healing  hand  on  all 
spiritual  maladies,  even  on  those  which  are  most 
repulsive  or  desperate.  Rabbinism,  philoso- 
phism,  mysticism,  may  consistently  be  reserved 
and  exclusive,  but  not  the  religion  of  Redemp- 
tion. It  is  bound  to  be  a  religion  for  the  million, 
for  the  "masses,"  for  the  great  unwashed  in 
every  sense,  for  the  ignorant  and  erring,  for  the 
slaves  of  evil  desire  and  habit.  Its  proper 
vocation  is  to  find  the  lost,  to  lift  the  low,  to 
teach  the  ignorant,  to  set  free  those  in  bonds, 
to  wash  the  unclean,  to  heal  the  sick  ;  and  it 
must  go  where  it  can  discover  the  proper  sub- 
jects of  its  art,  remembering  that  the  whole 
need  not  a  physician,  but  they  that  are  sick. 

The  church  and  the  world  have  a  common 
interest  in  emphasizing  this  view  of  Christianity, 


THE  HEALER  OF  SOULS.  8 1 

not  merely  against  ancient  Jewish  and   Pagan 
modes  of  thought,  but  against  other  conceptions 
of  the  Christian  reh'gion  still  more  or  less  current, 
such  as,  that  it  is  a  system  of  ethical  maxims, 
or  of  theological  dogmas.     Both  these  miscon- 
ceptions prevail  among  us.     Some  conceive  of 
Christ  as  merely  an  ethical  teacher.     Ask  such 
what  Christ  has  done  for  the  world,  and  they 
will  tell  you  :  "  He  has  taught  the  great  truth 
that  true  happiness  is  attainable  only  by  self- 
denial."    Others  very  remote  from  these  in  their 
creed,  yet  kindred  in  their  spirit,  think  of  Christ 
largely  as  a  theological  doctor  or  revealer  of 
divine  mysteries.     Ask  them  what  Christ  has 
done  for  the  world,  and  they  will  tell  you :  He 
has  died  on  the  cross  for  our  sins,  and  He  has 
also  taught  us  many  doctrines  we  could  not  other- 
wise have  known,  such  as  the  certainty  of  the 
life   to   come,   and   the   resurrection    from   the 
dead.      This  is  the  view  in  favour  with  the  pro- 
fessional theologian,  as  the  other  is  that  which 
commends  itself  to    the   literary  expositor  oi 
Christianity,     To  the  one  class  we  must  in  the 
spirit  of  our  text  reply  :  "  that  self-denial  is  the 
secret   of  true   happiness   was   indeed    one    of 
Christ's  most  characteristic  sayings,  but  there  is 
another  which  was  more  characteristic  still,  viz. 
'the  Son  of  Man  came  to  save  the  lost.'"     To 
the  other  class  we  say  :   you  err  by  mixing  up 
things  of  different  nature  without  attending-  to 


82  THE  HEALER  OF  SOULS. 

their  respective  values  and  their  mutual  rela- 
tions. It  is  rather  misleading  to  speak  of  Christ 
in  the  same  breath  as  a  Redeemer  and  as  a 
theological  teacher,  not  because  there  is  not 
truth  in  both  representations,  but  because  the 
facts  stated  are  not  of  coordinate  importance. 
Christ  is  in  the  first  place  the  Redeemer,  only 
in  the  second  the  Revealer,  in  the  dogmatic 
sense  of  the  term.  Christianity  is  primarily  a 
great  blessed  fact,  the  reconciliation  of  men  to 
God  and  to  each  other,  not  a  system  of  dogmas. 
What  doctrines  it  does  teach  have  their  value 
from  the  relation  in  which  they  stand  to  the 
central  fact.  Revealed  religion  throughout, 
from  beginning  to  end  of  the  Bible,  has  to  do 
with  the  manifestation  of  God,  as  the  God  of 
grace,  as  one  who  is  afflicted  with  the  sins  and 
miseries  of  men,  and  in  love  and  pity  seeks  to 
remove  them.  Doctrines  are  important  only  as 
springing  out  of,  and  illustrating  that  grand 
self-revelation  of  God,  in  the  drama  of  redemp- 
tion. 

2.  A  second  item  in  the  permanent  didactic 
significance  of  our  text  is  that  Christianity  is  the 
religio7i  of  Hope.  In  reference  to  the  foregoing 
proposition,  viz.,  that  Christianity  is  a  religion 
of  redemption,  it  might  be  enquired :  Is  this 
distinctive  of  the  Christian  religion  t  Do  not  all 
religions  profess  to  heal  men's  spiritual  diseases.'' 
If  we  grant  the  force  of  the  objection  to  some 


THE  HEALER  OF   SOULS.  83 

extent,  we  can  still  claim  for  Christianity  that  it 
is  to  an  unprecedented  degree  hopeful  as  to  the 
solubility  of  the  problem.  It  takes  a  cheerful 
view  of  the  capabilities  and  prospects  of  man, 
even  at  his  worst.  It  does  not  by  any  means 
take  a  light  view  of  the  state  in  which  it  finds 
him.  It  regards  him  as  a  very  sick  patient, 
sorely  in  need  of  a  physician's  help.  But  it 
believes  that  he  can  be  cured.  It  refuses  to 
despair  of  even  the  most  desperate  looking 
cases.  In  this  hopefulness  it  stands  alone.  In 
this  hopefulness  it  stood  alone  in  ancient  times. 
Jews  and  Pagans  alike  despaired  of  the  multi- 
tude. Habitual  hopelessness  regarding  the 
degraded  masses  was  the  radical  source  of  the 
surprise  so  frequently  expressed  by  the  Jews 
at  the  conduct  of  Jesus.  The  surprise  of  Celsus 
at  similar  conduct  on  the  part  of  the  Christian 
church,  had  the  same  source.  He  was  sceptical 
as  to  the  possibility  of  conversion.  He  said,  "  To 
change  nature  is  very  difficult."  The  cultivated 
of  the  ancient  world,  Jew  and  Gentile,  looked 
on  the  ignorant  and  immoral  as  Ethiopians 
who  could  not  change  their  colour,  leopards 
whose  spots  were  indelible.  Therefore  they 
neglected  them,  and  were  surprised  that  any 
one  should  do  otherwise.  In  such  despair  men 
looking  at  the  surface  of  society  and  of  human 
nature  might  not  unnaturally  feel  justified. 
For  what  presented   itself  to  the  eye  was  dis 


84  THE  HEALER  OF  SOULS. 

couraging  enough,  a  hard  rocky  surface  of  evil 
habit,  wherein  it  seemed  impossible  that  any 
crop  of  virtue  could  grow.  It  needed  the  eye 
of  a  more  than  earthly  love,  and  of  a  faith  that 
was  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen,  to  discern 
possibilities  of  goodness  even  in  the  waste 
places  of  society,  beneath  the  rock  reservoirs  of 
water,  which  might  be  made  to  spring  up  into 
everlasting  life. 

Such  love,  and  such  hope  were  in  Jesus,  and 
in  their  strength  He  persevered,  visiting  the 
spiritually  diseased,  and  calling  the  sinful  to 
repentance,  and  to  faith  in  God's  grace;  meeting 
in  the  course  of  His  ministry  many  disappoint- 
ments, but  also  achieving  such  signal  successes 
as  fully  justified  His  confidence.  Such  love  and 
hope  the  church  needs  now  to  enable  her  to 
carry  on  her  Lord's  work,  and  to  make  a  real, 
powerful,  abiding  impression  on  the  world  that 
lieth  in  sin  and  woe.  She  must  have  the  physi- 
cian's heart,  which  makes  him  enthusiastic  in 
his  profession,  and  the  physician's  confidence  in 
the  resources  of  the  healing  art,  which  makes 
him  persevere  in  his  efforts  to  save  life  to  the 
very  last  moment.  And  further,  she  must  have 
the  physician's  inventiveness,  which  is  continu- 
ally exercised  in  finding  out  new  means,  new 
methods,  and  new  instruments  of  cure.  Jesus 
was  inventive.  He  did  not  blindly  imitate  the 
method  in  vogue  for  making  men  holy,  which 


THE  HEALER  OF  SOULS.  85 

was  the  practice  of  austerity,  believed  in  as  a 
specific  by  all  the  moral  physicians  of  the  time ; 
the  Baptist,  the  Pharisees,  the  Essenes.  He 
saw  that  that  method  failed,  and  He  tried 
another  as  unlike  it  as  possible.  He  came 
eating  and  drinking,  living  like  other  people 
that  he  might  get  near  them  and  work  on  them 
beneficially  by  human  sympathy.  It  was  a  new 
way,  much  found  fault  with,  but  it  worked  well, 
as  it  always  will  and  must.  We,  too,  have  need 
to  be  inventive,  not  in  the  sense  of  innovating 
on  Christ's  method,  for  it  cannot  be  superseded 
while  the  world  lasts ;  but  in  the  sense  of  finding 
new  forms  under  which  the  old  method  may  be 
applied.  The  method  is  sympathy,  going  along 
with  people  as  far  as  possible  for  their  good. 
What  that  means  must  depend  on  the  thoughts, 
feelings,  and  customs  of  the  time.  Our  world  is 
a  very  difi'erent  world  from  that  in  which  the 
Saviour  lived,  and  living  in  it  in  his  spirit  will 
demand  new  forms  of  accommodation,  new  ap- 
plications of  the  Pauline  maxim,  "  all  things  to 
all  men."  A  holy  inventiveness  in  pursuit  of 
the  high  ends  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  seems 
urgently  needed  in  our  time.  The  mass  of  our 
industrial  class  is  becoming,  according  to  all 
accounts,  more  and  more  alienated  from  the 
church,  so  losing  the  benefit  of  whatever  helps 
to  right  living  church  connection  may  supply ; 
and  we  go  on  with  our  stereotyped  modes  of 


86  THE  HEALER  OF  SOULS. 

worship  and  denominational  organisations,  leav- 
ing invention  to  outside  parties,  hardly  ever 
asking  ourselves  whether  this  is  all  God  would 
have  us  do ;  possibly  inclined  to  frown  on 
any  one  who,  in  his  zeal  is  disposed  to  try 
new  experiments.  Is  this  the  temper  which 
becomes  those  who  profess  the  religion  of  good 
Hope  ? 

3.  Once  more  our  text  teaches  implicitly  that 
Christianity  is  Jit  and  worthy  to  be  the  universal 
religion.  It  is  so  just  because  it  is  the  religion 
of  redemption  and  hope.  A  religion  which 
aims  at  the  healing  of  spiritual  disease,  and 
which  has  confidence  in  its  power  to  effect  the 
cure,  is  entitled  to  supersede  all  other  religions 
and  to  become  the  faith  of  all  mankind ;  and 
it  will  be  well  for  the  world  when  it  has  become 
such  in  fact.  The  world  everywhere  needs  this 
religion,  for  sin  is  universal.  In  the  fairest  parts 
of  the  earth  it  is  found  in  its  worst  forms :  "where 
every  prospect  pleases,  and  only  man  is  vile." 
And  wherever  it  goes,  this  religion  leaves 
men  better  than  it  found  them,  their  spiritual 
maladies  at  least  partially  healed  ;  therefore,  it 
cannot  go  to  any  part  of  the  world  where  it  will 
not  be  a  blessing. 

It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  Pharisees  had  an 
instinctive  perception  that  the  new  love  for  the 
sinful  exhibited  in  the  conduct  of  Jesus  meant  a 
religious  revolution,  the  setting  aside  of  Jewish 


THE  HEALER  OF  SOULS.  87 

exclusiveness,  and  the  introduction  of  a  new 
humanity,  in  which  Jew  and  Gentile  should  be 
one.  They  might  very  easily  arrive  at  this  con- 
clusion. They  had  but  to  reflect  on  the  terms 
they  employed  to  describe  the  objects  of 
Christ's  special  care.  Publicans  were  to  them 
as  heathens,  and  "  sinners  "  was  in  their  dialect 
a  synonym  for  Gentiles.  It  might,  therefore, 
readily  occur  to  them  that  the  man  who  took 
such  a  warm  interest  in  the  publicans  and 
sinners  of  Judasa  could  have  no  objection,  on 
principle,  to  fellowship  with  Gentiles,  and  that 
when  His  religion  had  time  to  develop  its  pecu- 
liar tendencies,  it  was  likely  to  become  the 
religion,  not  of  Jews  alone,  but  of  mankind. 

Whether  the  men  who  found  fault  with  the 
sinner's  friend  had  so  much  penetration  or  not, 
it  is  certain  at  least  that  Jesus  Himself  was  fully 
aware  whither  His  line  of  action  tended.  He 
revealed  the  secret  in  the  words  "  I  came  not  to 
call  the  righteous  but  sinners."  In  describing 
His  mission  in  these  terms.  He  intimated  in 
effect  that  in  its  ultimate  scope  that  mission 
looked  far  beyond  the  bounds  of  Palestine,  and 
was  even  likely  to  have  more  intimate  relations 
with  the  outside  world  than  with  the  chosen  race. 
He  knew  too  well  how  righteous  his  countrymen 
accounted  themselves  to  cherish  the  hope  of 
making  a  wide  and  deep  impression  upon  them. 
He  deemed  it  indeed  a  duty  to  try,  and  He  did 


55  THE  HEALER  OF  SOULS. 

try  faithfully  and  persistently,  but  always  as 
one  who  knew  that  the  result  would  be  that 
described  in  the  sad  words  of  the  fourth  evan- 
gelist, "  He  came  unto  His  own  and  His  own 
received  Him  not."  And  as  He  had  an  infinite 
longing  to  save,  and  was  not  content  to  waste 
His  life,  He  turned  His  attention  to  more  likely 
subjects;  to  such  as  were  not  puffed  up  with  the 
conceit  of  righteousness,  and  would  not  take  it 
as  an  offence  to  be  called  sinners.  Such  He 
found  among  the  degraded  classes  of  Jewish 
society;  but  there  was  no  reason  why  they 
should  be  sought  there  alone.  The  world  was 
full  of  sinners  ;  why,  then,  limit  the  mission  to 
the  sinful  in  Judaea .''  Shall  we  say  because  the 
Jews  were  lesser  sinners  than  the  Gentiles  ? 
But  that  would  be  to  make  the  mission  after 
all  a  mission  to  the  righteous.  If  it  is  to  be  a 
mission  to  the  sinful,  let  it  be  that  out  and  out. 
Let  Him  who  is  intrusted  with  it  say,  "  the 
greater  the  sinner  the  greater  his  need  of  Me." 
That  was  just  what  Christ  did  say  in  effect 
when  he  uttered  with  significant  emphasis  the 
words,  "  I  came  not  to  call  the  righteous  but  sin- 
ners." It  is,  therefore,  a  word  on  which  all  men 
everywhere  can  build  their  hopes,  a  word  by 
which  the  Good  Physician  says  to  every  son  of 
Adam  "  look  unto  me  and  be  saved." 

Christianity  being  in  its  own  nature,  and  in 
Christ's  intention,  a  religion  for  mankind,  it  is 


THE  HEALER  OF  SOULS.  89 

the  duty  of  Christians  to  endeavour  to  make  it 
in  fact  the  religion  of  the  whole  human  race. 
The  church,  rightly  viewed,  is  a  missionary  insti- 
tute for  the  propagation  of  the  religion  of  re- 
demption throughout  the  world.  Those  who 
have  in  fullest  measure  the  spirit  of  Christ  will 
enter  with  enthusiasm  into  this  great  enterprise, 
with  the  enthusiasm  of  love  and  of  hope,  desir- 
ing much  that  the  spiritual  maladies  of  men 
may  be  healed,  and  believing  in  the  possibility 
of  cure,  even  in  the  most  aggravated  cases.  But 
alas !  it  is  not  easy  to  have  in  full  measure  the 
spirit  of  Christ.  It  is  easy  and  common  to 
patronise  philanthropic  enterprise  with  a  languid 
approbation  or  admiration ;  it  is  not  easy  or 
common  earnestly  to  desire  the  conversion  of 
the  world  to  the  Christian  faith,  and  to  hope  for 
this  as  a  probable  result,  not  soon,  but  eventu- 
ally, of  missionary  effort.  In  the  nominally 
Christian  world  there  is  a  deep-seated,  wide- 
spread indifference  to  the  religious  condition  of 
heathen  nations — a  secret  opinion  that  they  are 
well  enough  as  they  are.  Even  in  the  really 
Christian  world  there  is  a  widely  diffused  leaven 
of  Celsean  scepticism  as  to  the  convertibility  of 
certain  classes  and  races.  We  desire  the  con- 
version of  all ;  but  we  doubt  its  possibility,  its 
possibility  not  merely  within  a  few  years,  but 
even  during  the  lapse  of  ages.  This  doubt 
causes  our  hands  to  hang  down  ;  causes  us  to 


90  THE  HEALER  OF  SOULS. 

suspect  that  the  money  spent  on  missions  is 
wasted,  and  if  not  to  grudge  what  we  give,  at 
least  to  wish  that  we  could  invest  it  in  an  enter- 
prise more  likely  to  yield  a  return.  We  much 
need  a  baptism  into  Christ's  spirit  of  hope — 
intelligent  hope,  not  foolish  in  its  expectations, 
and  ready  to  die  out  if  the  whole  world  be  not 
Christianised  at  once,  but  wise  and  patient,  able 
to  wait  long  for  the  fulfilment  of  its  desire,  and 
assured  that  however  long  fulfilment  tarry,  it 
will  come  at  last,  bringing  with  it  the  effective 
"  healing  of  the  nations." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

MUCH  FORGIVENESS,  MUCH  LOVE. 

"  Wherefore  I  say  unto  thee,  her  sins,  which  are  many,  are 
forgiven  :  for  she  loved  much  ;  but  to  whom  little  is  forgiven, 
the  same  loveth  little." — Luke  vii.  47. 

The  general  import  of  this  text  is  that  the 
measure  of  a  Christian's  gratitude  to  Christ  is 
his  sense  of  indebtedness  for  the  forgiveness  of 
sin.  The  intenser  the  consciousness  of  redemp- 
tion the  deeper  the  devotion.  The  form  of  the 
sentence  in  which  this  truth  is  virtually  taught 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  Christ,  in  uttering  it,  was 
concerned,  not  merely  to  enunciate  a  general 
doctrine,  but  to  defend  a  person  under  suspicion. 
A  woman  of  evil  repute  had  come  into  the 
chamber  where  He  sat  at  meat,  the  guest  of  a 
friendly  Pharisee,  and  had  behaved  towards 
Himself  in  a  very  demonstrative  manner,  per- 
forming acts  indicative  of  intense  emotion. 
These  acts  had  been  grievously  misunderstood 
by  the  master  of  the  house.  Simon  interpreted 
them  in  the  light  of  a  past  life  of  shame,  and 
saw  in  them  simply  the  characteristic  manifes- 
tation of  lawless  passion   utterly  regardless  of 


92         MUCH  FORGIVENESS,  MUCH  LOVE. 

propriety.  Jesus  read  his  thoughts  in  his  face, 
and  proceeded  at  once  to  correct  his  mistake 
by  suggesting  the  true  explanation  of  the 
woman's  strange  behaviour.  What  he  said  was 
in  effect  this :  "  These  acts  mean  love ;  much, 
intense,  passionate  love :  there  you  are  right, 
Simon.  But  the  quality  of  the  love  is  not  such 
as  you  imagine.  It  is  the  love  of  a  sinner,  a 
great  sinner,  doubtless,  but  of  a  sinner  penitent 
and  forgiven.  Forgiven  are  her  sins,  her  many 
sins,  as  they  must  have  been,  judging  from  her 
present  behaviour,  for  these  are  the  acts  of  one 
who  loves  much,  and  those  love  much  to  whom 
much  is  forgiven ;  even  as  those  love  little,  who 
like  yourself  have  little  sense  of  their  need  of 
forgiveness." 

Christ's  words  were  not  only  apologetic,  but 
doubly  apologetic ;  for  the  woman  in  the  first 
place,  but  also  for  Himself,  For  He  too  had 
been  put  on  his  defence  by  Simon's  evil  thoughts. 
When  the  woman  entered  and  acted  as  recorded, 
the  face  of  the  host  assumed  an  expression  of 
undisguised  surprise  that  his  guest  could  tolerate 
such  ongoings.  He  did  not  go  so  far  as  to 
suspect  the  moral  character  of  Jesus,  but  he 
drew  an  unfavourable  inference  as  to  his  pro- 
phetic pretensions,  deeming  it  impossible  that 
one  who  knew,  as  a  prophet  must  have  done, 
the  character  of  the  intruder,  could  give  any 
countenance  to  such  flagrant  breaches  of  de- 


MUCH  FORGIVENESS,  MUCH  LOVE.         93 

corum.    Jesus  therefore  was  in  effect  summoned 
to  the  task  of  vindicating  his  tolerance  without 
prejudice  to  his  prophetic  claims.     He  had  to 
show  how  He  might  know  all  about  the  woman's 
life,  all  that  Simon  knew,  and  more,  and  yet  be 
very  willing  that  she  should  approach  Him  with 
demonstrations  of  ardent  affection.     And  what 
He  had  to  say  on  this  score  was  in  substance 
this:  "I  am  a  prophet,  Simon,  and  possess  a 
prophet's  knowledge.     I  know  all  this  woman's 
history,  not   merely   in   virtue   of  a   prophet's 
supernatural   power  of  omniscience,  but  more 
especially   through    the    moral    insight   which 
comes  from  sympathy.     I  can  divine  the  past 
from  the  present  scene.     I  see  she  has  been  a 
great  sinner.     I  see  also  that  she  is  sincerely 
penitent.     I  see  that  she  feels  herself  indebted 
to  me  for  some  words  of  mine  which  have  helped 
her  to  believe  in  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  and  set 
her   on    a   course   of  moral   reformation.     All 
those  acts  of  intense  affection,  those  hot  tears, 
those  flowing  ringlets  turned  for  the  moment 
into  a  towel,  those  ardent  kisses,  mean  grateful 
love   to   a   spiritual    benefactor.      And   hence, 
Simon,  understand  the  interest  I  take  in  such 
people,  the  pleasure  I  find  in  their  company. 
I  like  to  be  loved  in  that  way,  warmly,  passion- 
ately, enthusiastically;  not  coldly  and  languidly, 
after  the  fashion  exemplified  by  yourself  in  the 
present  entertainment.     I  desire  much  love,  and 


94         MUCH  FORGIVENESS,  MUCH  LOVE. 

that  is  why  I  have  relations  with  the  '  publicans 
and  sinners,'  the  people  who  have  greatly  erred. 
I  find  that  when  converted  they  love  me  much ; 
a  fact  quite  intelligible,  for  it  is  natural  that 
those  to  whom  much  is  forgiven  should  love 
much,  as  natural  as  that  those  to  whom  little  is 
forgiven  should  love  little.  Of  two  debtors,  the 
one  to  whom  is  remitted  five  hundred  pence 
will  certainly,  other  things  being  equal,  be  more 
grateful  to  his  generous  creditor  than  one  to 
whom  has  been  remitted  only  fifty  pence." 

It  will  be  seen  that  ^the  form  of  the  sentence 
which  states  the  relation  between  forgiveness 
and  love  requires  to  be  differently  put  according 
as  it  is  used  to  defend  the  sinful  woman  on  the 
one  hand,  or  to  defend  her  benefactor  on  the 
other.  For  the  one  purpose  the  appropriate 
form  is  "much  love  implies  much  forgiveness  ;" 
for  the  other  "  much  forgiveness  leads  to  much 
love." 

It  will  also  be  seen  how  beautifully  and 
effectually  the  saying  in  either  form  serves  the 
immediate  apologetic  purpose  for  which  it  was 
spoken.  "  She  loved  much,  and  for  such  a 
woman  to  love  such  a  man  is  very  improper  " — 
so  thought  Simon.  "  She  loves  much,  doubt- 
less; but  what  if  it  be  the  love  of  a  penitent 
conscious  of  much  forgiveness  .-'  Explained  by 
the  penitence-hypothesis,  where  is  the  impro- 
priety of  this  impassioned  demonstration  .-'"    So 


MUCH  FORGIVENESS,  MUCH  LOVE.         95 

answered  Jesus  defending  the  woman.  "Much 
forgiveness,  much  love ;  but  who  does  not 
wish  to  be  much  loved  ?  I  certainly  do.  There- 
fore I,  in  my  capacity  of  Physician  of  souls, 
frequent  the  company  of  great  sinners  ;  for  I 
find  that  when  healed  they  love  most."  So 
answered  Jesus  defending  Himself 

We  have  now  to  consider  the  permanent 
didactic  significance  of  our  text. 

I.  The  first  great  lesson  it  teaches  is  that  sin 
is  pardonable.  "  Her  sins  .  .  .  are  forgiveny 
A  very  elementary  truth,  yet  a  very  important 
one.  The  early  Church  recognised  its  funda- 
mental importance  by  introducing  it  into  the 
Apostles'  Creed.  In  that  ancient  symbol  no 
mention  is  made  of  atonement,  still  less  is  any 
theory  of  redemption  taught,  whether  by  im- 
plication or  in  express  terms.  But  into  the 
mouth  of  every  one  bearing  the  Christian  name 
is  put  this  confession  :  "  I  believe  in  the  forgive- 
ness of  sins."  It  is  a  confession  whose  momen- 
tousness  is  becoming  more  and  more  apparent 
every  day.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  ere 
long  it  will  be  generally  felt  that,  in  comparison 
with  this  elementary  doctrine,  all  theories  as  to 
the  mode  and  conditions  of  forgiveness  are  but 
details  of  secondary  importance.  For  in  these 
times  an  increasing  number  of  voices,  scientific 
and  philosophic,  are  declaring,  with  the  emphasis 
of  earnest  conviction,  that  pardon  is  impossible, 


96    MUCH  FORGIVENESS,  MUCH  LOVE. 

is  indeed  a  word  without  meaning.  This  article 
of  the  Apostles'  Creed  can  therefore  no  longer 
be  treated  as  a  trite  common-place,  or  as  an 
axiom  so  obvious  that  it  scarce  needs  to  be 
formally  stated.  It  needs  to  be  asserted,  yea, 
even  to  be  defended.  We  cannot  here  attempt 
an  elaborate  defence,  but  we  may  indicate  in  a 
few  words  the  lines  along  which  both  the  attack 
and  the  defence  may  be  conducted. 

If  sin  be  unpardonable,  the  obstacle  must  be 
in  God,  in  nature,  or  in  the  sinner.  To  place 
ihe  cause  in  God,  is  to  say  in  effect  that  the 
Divine  Being  is  malevolent  and  implacable,  the 
opposite  in  character  of  all  that  we  esteem  most 
in  men.  The  Pagan  religions,  the  products  of 
the  unassisted  human  mind  in  its  efforts  to  find 
out  God,  all  more  or  less  incline  to  this  view. 
If  they  do  not  represent  the  gods  as  absolutely 
refusing  to  pardon  offences,  they  certainly  re- 
present them  as  very  unwilling  to  pardon,  diffi- 
cult to  appease,  and  at  length  granting  the 
prayer  of  their  suppliants  with  a  bad  grace. 
Paganism  is  a  perpetual  eclipse  of  Divine  Grace. 
Many  Christians  live  within  the  penumbra  of 
this  baleful  eclipse ;  but  it  is  impossible  for  one 
living  under  Christian  influences  altogether  to 
fall  away  from  the  faith  that  "  there  is  forgiveness 
with  God,"  and  that  "  He  delighteth  in  mercy  ;" 
though  one  has  heard  sermons  in  Christian 
pulpits  on  these  same  texts  coming  very  near 


MUCH  FORGIVENESS,  MUCH  LOVE.         Q7 

to  the  Pagan  denial  in  the  endeavour  to  prove 
that  mercy  is  not  a  distinct  attribute  of  God. 
One  thing  that  tends  to  keep  Christendom 
right  in  its  theology  at  this  point  is  the  ethics 
which  it  has  learnt  from  Jesus.  We  cannot 
long  regard  mercy,  placability,  magnanimity,  as 
worshipful  attributes  in  man,  and  continue  wor- 
shipping a  God  who  is  devoid  of  them.  On 
the  contrary,  the  tendency  of  such  moral  senti- 
ments must  be  to  foster  faith  in  a  God  who 
rises  above  the  human  level  of  attainment  in 
these  very  respects,  as  far  as  heaven  is  above 
the  earth,  as  the  Bible  affirms  the  God  of  revela- 
tion does. 

If  the  reason  why  sin  is  unpardonable  be  found 
in  nature,  the  meaning  is  that  the  laws  of  nature 
are  fixed  and  cannot  be  violated  with  impunity; 
so  that  if  a  man  sin  against  these  laws  in  any 
way,  as  by  intemperance,  gluttony,  or  sensual 
excess,  he  entails  upon  himself  a  permanent  in- 
heritance of  evil  consequences.  This  is  the 
tone  adopted  on  the  present  topic  by  modern 
science.  While  the  Pagan  says  in  effect,  "sin 
cannot  be  forgiven,  for  God  is  implacable  ;"  the 
man  of  science  says,  "  sin  cannot  be  forgiven, 
for  the  order  of  nature  is  unchangeable."  The 
two  positions  seem  far  apart ;  yet  there  is  a 
closer  connection  between  them  than  appears  at 
first  sight.  The  Pagan's  thought  of  God  is  largely 
taken    from    nature.       His    religion    is    in    fact 


98  MUCH  FORGIVENESS,  MUCH  LOVE. 

nature-worship.  And  when  he  asks  pardon  of  his 
god,  it  is  the  physical  consequences  of  sin  he  has 
chiefly  in  view.  These  he  desires  to  have  can- 
celled ;  and  when,  notwithstanding  prayers  and 
sacrifices,  they  remain,  the  Deity  appears  to  him 
implacable.  Natural  religions  are  the  complex 
product  of  the  observation  of  nature  and  of  the 
superstitious  fear  of  an  evil  conscience.  The 
grim  doctrine  of  science  respecting  pardon  is 
much  the  same  view  of  nature  expressed  in  a 
non-religious  dialect  by  men  who  neither  be- 
lieve in  a  personal  God,  nor  are  troubled  with 
morbid  moral  feelings. 

When  it  is  affirmed,  lastly,  that  a  ground  why 
sin  cannot  be  forgiven  exists  in  the  sinner  him- 
self, the  meaning  must  be  that  repentance  is  im- 
possible, and  therefore  also  forgiveness.  The 
lion  in  the  path,  in  this  case,  is  the  fixity  of 
character,  the  tyrannous  power  of  habit,  the 
difficulty  amounting  to  a  practical  impossibility 
of  changing  the  moral  bent.  The  motto  of 
this  gospel  of  despair  is  the  word  of  the  prophet, 
"can  the  Ethiopian  change  his  skin,  or  the 
leopard  his  spots,  then  may  ye  also  do  good, 
that  are  accustomed  to  do  evil."  *  There  is 
much,  very  much,  in  human  experience  to 
justify  the  saying,  else  it  had  not  been  found 
in  the  Bible.  But  the  oracle  was  never  intended 
to  be  a  dogmatic  assertion  of  the  impossibility 

*  Jeremiah  xiii.  23. 


MUCH  FORGIVENESS,  MUCH  LOVE.         99 

of  conversion,  and  the  inevitable  doom  of  evil- 
doers to  persevere  to  the  bitter  end  in  their 
foolish  and  hurtful  ways.  In  this  light,  never- 
theless, it  is  regarded  by  many  even  in  the 
Christian  Church  who  treat  all  attempts  to 
change  the  bad  as  the  idle  efforts  of  a  well- 
meant  but  ill-informed  benevolence,  and  con- 
fidently anticipate  that  all  the  results  of  such 
efforts  in  the  shape  of  alleged  "  conversions " 
will  turn  out  superficial  and  temporary. 

Simon  the  Pharisee  also,  like  all  his  class,  was  of 
this  way  of  thinking;  and  hence  it  never  occurred 
to  him,  never  could  have  occurred,  to  seek  an 
explanation  of  the  conduct  of  the  woman  who 
entered  his  house  in  the  hypothesis  of  repent- 
ance. He  did  not  expect  such  people  to  under- 
go moral  change  ;  he  was  sceptical  of  the  reality, 
depth,  and  permanence  of  any  apparent  change 
in  them  for  the  better.  And  this  judgment  he 
believed  to  be  the  judgment  of  common  sense  ; 
any  other  way  of  thinking  he  would  deem 
visionary,  romantic,  foolish. 

Yet  his  guest  was  decidedly  of  another  way 
of  thinking.  Jesus  differed  from  Simon,  and 
not  only  from  him,  but  from  all  who  on  any 
ground  doubt  or  deny  the  forgiveness  of  sin. 
He  believed,  and  he  preached  with  passionate 
earnestness,  that  human  sin  is  pardonable,  that, 
no  insurmountable  barrier  to  pardon  exists  in. 
any  quarter.     First,  and  above  all,  he  affirmed 


lOO       MUCH  FORGIVENESS,   MUCH  LOVE. 

that  there  was  no  barrier  in  God.  He  declared 
that  there  Avas  joy  in  heaven  over  a  sinner  re- 
penting— such  joy  as  men  have  in  finding  things 
lost.  But  he  maintained,  moreover,  that  there  was 
forgiveness  in  nature  as  well  as  in  God  ;  that  is 
to  say,  that  even  the  physical  consequences  of 
sin  were  cancellable  more  or  less  completely. 
He  endorsed  the  cheerful  creed  embodied  in 
the  words  of  the  Psalmist,  "who  forgiveth  all 
thine  iniquities,  who  healeth  all  thy  diseases," 
the  diseases  directly  caused  by  sin  not  excepted. 
He  healed  the  palsied  man,  and  he  said,  "  be  of 
good  cheer,  thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee."  The 
healing  was  but  an  extension  of  the  act  of  for- 
giving to  the  physical  sphere.  In  the  spiritual 
sphere  the  act  banished  gloom,  and  awakened 
hope ;  in  the  physical  sphere  it  restored  energy 
to  palsied  limbs.  Forgiveness  amounted  to  the 
cure  of  a  paralysis  which  afflicted  at  once  both 
mind  and  body. 

This  bright  faith  of  Jesus  was  not  a  benevo- 
lent delusion.  It  was  in  accordance  with  the 
facts  of  the  universe.  For  there  really  is  mercy 
in  the  bosom  of  nature,  as  well  as  in  the  heart 
of  God.  Nature  is  not  a  relentless  monster  that 
refuses  to  give  an  erring  man  a  second  chance. 
There  is  a  healing  power  in  her,  a  storehouse  of 
curative  influence,  an  antidote  possibly  for  every 
disease.  Her  laws  are  fixed  doubtless,  but  her 
laws   are   not    all   against   the   sinner,    though 


MUCH  FORGIVENESS,   MUCH  LOVE.       ID  I 

many  are,  visiting  transgression  with  dread 
penalties.  There  are  beneficent  laws  which 
work  in  favour  of  the  penitent,  helping  and 
encouraging  him  in  the  work  of  self-amend- 
ment. To  this  extent  and  to  this  effect  let  us 
affirm  the  creed  of  the  ancient  Church  respect 
ing  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  assured  not  merely 
of  the  'goodwill  of  God  our  Father,  but  also  of 
the  goodwill  and  kindly  succour  of  the  order  of 
the  physical  universe. 

Jesus  further  believed  that  there  was  no  in- 
superable obstacle  to  forgiveness  in  the  sinner 
himself.  In  other  words,  he  believed  in  the 
possibility  of  moral  transformation.  Sin  he 
knew  and  declared  to  be  a  bondage,  but  he  did 
not  regard  it  as  a  fixed  final  doom.  The  soul 
might  shake  off  its  fetters  ;  a  powerful  reaction 
might  take  place  in  the  conscience  at  any 
moment,  resulting  in  complete  and  permanent 
emancipation.  At  this  point  he  joined  issue 
directly  with  his  host.  Simon  did  not  expect 
such  moral  reactions.  Jesus  did.  Hence  the 
difference  in  their  judgments  of  the  intruder. 
To  Simon  she  was  simply  a  sinful  woman  prac- 
tising the  arts  of  a  courtesan  ;  to  Jesus  she  was 
an  erring  one,  profoundly,  passionately,  peni- 
tent. In  her  case  had  happened  what  might 
happen  in  any  transgressor. 

2.  Yes,  in  any  transgressor ;  for  a  second  item 
in  the  permanent  didactic  significance  of  this 


102       MUCH  FORGIVENESS,  MUCH  LOVE. 

text  is  that  much  sin  can  be  repented  of,  and 
therefore  forgiven.  "  Her  sins,  which  are  many, 
are  forgiven."  Christ  makes  this  affirmation  in 
view  of  all  possible  conditions  of  pardon,  whether 
in  God,  in  nature,  or  in  man.  There  is  no  reason 
in  this  universe.  He  says  in  effect,  why  a  griev- 
ous offender  against  moral  law  should  not  enter 
into  peace.  Not  in  God  ;  there  is  forgiveness 
with  Him  to  any  extent.  He  multiplieth  par- 
dons, "with  Him  is  plenteous  redemption." 
Not  in  nature  ;  for  though  in  the  ordinary  course 
of  things  many  consequences  of  sin  remain  un- 
cancelled, yet  does  the  whole  course  of  nature 
conspire  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the 
sincere  penitent,  and  encourage  him  in  his 
new  way.  All  things  work  together  for  his 
good,  even  the  uncancelled  ills  of  his  own  state 
and  in  the  state  of  others  injured  by  his  misdeeds; 
the  one  working  in  him  meekness  and  patience, 
the  other  awakening  in  him  a  mighty  desire  to 
be  henceforth  a  blessing  instead  of  a  curse  to 
his  fellow-creatures,  and  endowing  him  with  an 
intensity  of  benevolent  purpose  to  which  ordi- 
nary men  are  strangers.  Not,  finally,  in  the 
sinner  himself  Doubtless  sin  is  a  hard  task- 
master, and  one  of  the  worst  elements  in  the  lot 
of  his  victims  is  the  fact  that  the  longer  they 
continue  in  his  service,  and  the  more  devotedly 
they  serve  him,  the  more  difficult  is  it  to  escape 
from  his  thrall.     But  even  in  the  very  hardness 


MUCH  FORGIVENESS,   MUCH  LOVE.        IO3 

of  the  lot  there  is  hope.  When  the  prodigal's 
misery  is  at  its  maximum,  there  is  a  chance  of 
his  coming  to  his  senses,  and  at  least  inclining 
to  return  to  his  Father.  The  will  by  long 
habit  may  be  greatly  weakened  ;  but  there  arc 
beneficent  influences  in  attendance  ready  to  help 
the  man  who  looks  his  sin  straight  in  the 
face,  hates  it,  and  longs  passionately  to  be  rid 
of  it. 

Happy  for  the  world  if  this  part  of  Christ's 
Gospel  be  true.  It  were  a  poor  gospel  which 
said  merely  that  repentance  and  pardon  are  not 
in  the  abstract  and  in  all  circumstances  impos- 
sible, that  at  least  minor  degrees  of  culpability 
may  be  repented  of  and  forgiven.  For  the 
world  does  not  consist,  for  the  most  part,  of 
little  sinners.  Men  and  women  in  vast  numbers 
go  wrong  greatly,  tragically.  A  gospel  which 
excluded  them  would  be  altogether  a  one-sided, 
mean,  uninteresting  aiTair,  bringing  a  petty  sal- 
vation to  people  of  petty  character,  the  elect 
circle  of  moral  mediocrity  that  supplies  no 
themes  to  the  historian,  the  dramatist,  the  artist, 
or  the  preacher.  Think  of  a  gospel  under  which 
a  Simon  was  taken  and  the  sinful  woman  left. 
Who  could  grow  eloquent  over  such  a  gospel  ? 
Who  would  care  to  preach  it,  save  frigid  souls 
of  the  Simon  type  ? 

3.  Yet  another  lesson  our  text  teaches  by 
plain  implication,  viz.,  that  a  great  sinner  can 


I04       MUCH  FORGIVENESS,  MUCH  LOVE. 

be  a  great  saint.     Of  the  great  sinner  who  had 
entered  into  Simon's  house  Jesus  testified  that 
"  she    loved    much ; "    and    from   the   opening 
sentences  of  the  next  chapter,  which  refer  to 
the  women  who  followed  Jesus,  we  may  infer 
that  she  spent  the  rest  of  her  days  in  minister- 
ing to  the  wants  of  her  benefactor,  a  devotee  in 
the  best  sense.     Now  this  doctrine  that  a  great 
sinner  may  become  a  great  saint  is  necessary  to 
the  complete  vindication  of  the  policy  and  the 
morality  of  pardon.     Forgiveness  is  good  and 
wholesome  only  if  it  lead  to  piety  and  purity. 
The   psalmist   recognised    this  when   he   said : 
"  There   is    forgiveness   with   Thee    that    Thou 
mayest  be  feared!'     It  is  a  very  important  ques- 
tion, therefore,  whether  this  doctrine  be  indeed 
true.     Is  it  in  accordance  with  the  psychologi- 
cal probabilities  or  with  the  facts  of  history.!* 
We  cannot  hesitate  to  answer  in  the  affirmative. 
It    is    indeed    the    case    that    a   great    sinner 
repenting  is  likely  to    become,  generally  does 
become,  a  great  saint.     The  rationale  of  this  is 
simple.     A  great  sinner,  penitent  and  forgiven, 
will  love  much.     He  will  be  characterised  by 
great  devotion  to  Christ  the  Redeemer.     But 
devotion   to    Christ   is   the   cardinal    Christian 
virtue,  the  mother  of  all  the  virtues.     Again,  a 
great  sinner  means  a  man  of  much  misdirected 
energy,  full  of  passion  and  life  force.     When  he 
is  converted  he  does  not  lose  this  energy.     The 


MUCH  FORGIVENESS,   MUCH  LOVE.       IO5 

driving  power  remains.  All  that  takes  place 
in  conversion  is  that  the  power  receives  a  new 
direction,  and  is  utilised  for  new  purposes. 
Made  free  from  sin  it  becomes  the  servant  of 
righteousness,  and  in  this  service  gains  distinc- 
tion equal  to  its  former  bad  notoriety  as  the 
servant  of  evil. 

Jesus  understood  well  this  point  in  moral 
philosophy,  and  habitually  acted  on  it.  It  was 
in  part  the  key  to  his  conduct  in  maintaining 
close  relations  with  social  outcasts.  No  writer 
with  whom  I  am  acquainted  has  seen  this  more 
clearly  than  Bunyan,  himself  an  admirable 
illustration  of  the  maxim  "much  forgiveness, 
much  love."  In  his  sermon  on  "  the  Jerusalem 
sinner  saved,"  explaining  the  reasons  why  Jesus 
would  have  mercy  offered  in  the  first  place  to 
the  biggest  sinners,  among  which  he  includes 
this,  that  "  they  when  converted  are  apt  to  love 
Him  most;"  he  remarks:  "If  Christ  loves  to 
be  loved  a  little.  He  loves  to  be  loved  much ; 
but  there  is  not  any  that  are  capable  of  loving 
much,  save  those  that  have  much  forgiven  them." 
Having  cited  Paul  as  an  instance,  he  adds  the 
quaint  reflection,  "  I  wonder  how  far  a  man 
might  go  among  the  converted  sinners  of  the 
smaller  size  before  he  could  find  one  that  so 
much  as  looked  anything  this  wayward.  Where 
is  he  that  is  thus  under  pangs  of  love  for  the 
grace   bestowed    upon    him    by   Jesus    Christ.'* 


I06      MUCH  FORGIVENESS,  MUCH  LOVE. 

Excepting  only  some  few,  you  may  walk  to  the 
world's  end  and  find  none."  Then  coming  to 
the  scene  in  Simon's  house  the  moral  lesson 
it  suggests  is  thus  put.  "Alas!  Christ  has  but 
little  thanks  for  the  saving  of  little  sinners. 
'  To  whom  little  is  forgiven,  the  same  loveth 
little.'  He  gets  not  water  for  his  feet  by  his 
saving  of  such  sinners.  There  are  abundance  of 
dry-eyed  Christians  in  the  world,  and  abundance 
of  dry-eyed  duties  too — duties  that  were  never 
wetted  with  the  tears  of  contrition  and  repent- 
ance, nor  even  sweetened  with  the  great  sinner's 
box  of  ointment.  Wherefore  his  way  is  often- 
times to  step  out  of  the  way,  to  Jericho,  to 
Samaria,  to  the  country  of  the  Gadarenes,  to 
the'coasts  of  Tyre  and  Sidon,  and  also  to  Mount 
Calvary,  that  He  may  lay  hold  of  such  sinners 
as  will  love  Him  to  His  liking." 

It  were  well  that  the  Church  understood  her 
Lord's  mind  in  this  particular,  and  followed  His 
example,  bringing  her  energies  to  bear  on  the 
victims  of  passion  and  vice,  not  merely  in  a 
fitful,  spasmodic  way,  and  through  irregular 
agencies,  but  systematically,  deliberately,  and 
persistently,  steadily  declining  to  be  of  Simon's 
mind,  or  to  give  any  encouragement  to  a 
despairing,  pessimistic,  sinical  tone  of  senti- 
ment respecting  the  lost  and  lapsed.  Then 
may  she  have  the  satisfaction  of  hearing  many 


MUCH  FORGIVENESS,  MUCH  LOVE.       IO7 

singing  this  new  song  of  deliverance  to  which 
angels  might  bear  a  chorus — 

"  Weary  of  earth,  and  laden  with  my  sin, 
I  look  at  heaven,  and  long  to  enter  in  ; 
But  there  no  evil  thing  may  find  a  home. 
And  yet  I  hear  a  voice  that  bids  me  come. 

''  It  is  the  voice  of  Jesus  that  I  hear, 
His  are  the  hands  stretched  out  to  draw  me  near, 
And  His  the  blood  that  can  for  me  atone. 
And  set  me  faultless  there  before  the  throne. 

"  'Twas  He  who  found  me  on  the  deathly  wild. 
And  made  me  heir  of  heaven,  the  Father's  child  ; 
And  day  by  day,  whereby  my  soul  may  live. 
Gives  me  His  grace  of  pardon  and  will  give. 

"  Nought  can  I  bring,  dear  Lord,  for  all  I  owe, 
Yet  let  my  full  heart  what  it  can  bestow  ; 
Like  Mary's  gift,  let  my  devotion  prove 
Forgiven  greatly,  how  I  greatly  love. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

THE  JOY  OF  FINDING  THINGS  LOST. 

"  I  say  unto  you,  that  likewise  joy  shall  be  in  heaven  over  one 
sinner  repenting,  more  than  over  ninety  and  nine  just  persons 
which  need  no  repentance." — Luke  xv.  7. 

This  thought,  the  last  of  the  three  which 
together  constituted  Christ's  apology  for  loving 
the  sinful,  is  the  burden  of  all  the  parables  in 
the  fifteenth  chapter  of  Luke's  Gospel — those  of 
the  lost  sheep,  the  lost  coin,  and  the  lost  son. 
In  these  parables  Jesus  made  His  crowning 
effort  of  self-defence,  and  gained  a  signal  victory 
for  gracious  love,  against  the  frigid  criticism  of 
ethical  propriety.  Noticable  is  the  multiplica- 
tion of  parables  in  this  instance,  not  merely  as 
an  index  of  creative  wealth  of  mind,  but  as 
serving  the  purpose  of  the  apologetic  argument. 
Accumulation  of  instances  suggested  the  thought 
that  all  mankind,  in  all  positions  and  relations 
of  life,  knew  and  sympathised  with  the  joy  of 
finding  things  and  persons  lost.  As  one  who 
took  pleasure  in  finding  morally-lost  men, 
Jesus  thereby  ranged  on  His  side  the  whole 
human  race — men,  women,  rich  and  poor,  shep- 


THE  JOY  OF  FINDING  THINGS  LOST.        IO9 

herds,  housewives,  fathers,  against  His  critics  ; 
so  saying  to  them  in  effect—"  Are  ye  not  meni 
have  ye  not  the  feelings  of  ordinary  humanity.' 
that  I  should  need  to  explain  to  you  so  simple 
a  matter." 

Christ's  defence  of  the  generous  interest  He 
took  in  the  moral  recovery  of  the  outcasts,  as 
presented  in  these  beautiful  parables,  is  indeed 
most  complete.  Who,  after  hearing  it,  could 
any  longer  doubt  that  such  interest,  even  in 
the  case  of  the  lowest  and  vilest,  was  rational 
and  praiseworthy  .?  The  worst  that  could  be 
said  of  those  whom  morally  respectable  persons 
shunned  was  that  they  were  lost~\ost  to  God, 
to  righteousness,  temperance,  and  wisdom,  to  all 
the  chief  ends  and  uses  of  life.  If  so,  why 
should  there  not  be  joy  in  finding  them  >  All 
men  have  joy  in  finding  things  lost— shepherds 
m  finding  lost  sheep,  housewives  in  finding  lost 
pieces  of  money,  fathers  in  finding  lost  sons 
The  Son  of  man  only  follows  their  example 
when  He  has  joy  over  the  finding  of  morally 
lost  men,  and  seeks  occasions  for  such  joy  by 
taking  pains  to  bring  such  men  to  repentance. 

The  moral  of  these  parables  is  attached  to 
the  first  of  the  three,  and  in  an  abbreviated 
form  to  the  second.  It  is  to  be  observed  that 
It  is  not  expressed  exactly  as  we  should  have 
expected.  Christ  was  on  His  defence,  and  the 
pomt  to  be  made  good  was  the  naturalness  and 


I  lO       THE  JOY  OF  FINDING  THINGS  LOST. 

reasonableness  of  His  own  joy  over  sinners  re- 
penting, so  that  we  might  have  expected  the  para- 
ble to  wind  up  with  a  sentence  like  this :  "  Even 
so,  I  also  have  joy  over  a  sinner  repenting  more 
than  over  ninety  and  nine  just  persons  which 
need  no  repentance."  But  that  is  not  the  way 
He  puts  the  matter.  He  speaks  of  a  joy  in 
heaven,  not  of  a  joy  in  His  own  heart,  though 
that  is  what  He  has  to  defend,  and  what  He 
really  means  to  proclaim.  The  reason  of  this 
is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  Jesus  stood  alone 
in  His  time  in  hoping  for  a  spiritual  change 
among  the  outcasts,  and  in  regarding  such  a 
change,  when  it  took  place,  with  intense  sym- 
pathy and  unfeigned  delight.  He  had  no 
neighbours,  on  earth,  like  the  shepherd  and  the 
housewife,  to  rejoice  with  Him.  His  nearest 
neighbours  were  in  heaven.  His  back  is  at  the 
wall ;  He  is  one  against  the  world,  an  abso- 
lutely neighbourless  man,  so  far  as  earth  is  con- 
cerned ;  and  so  He  is  fain  to  go  to  heaven 
in  quest  of  sympathisers,  and,  sure  of  finding 
them  there,  to  declare  to  his  censors  :  Up  in 
heaven  they  understand  me,  there  is  sympa- 
thetic joy  among  the  celestials  over  the  repent- 
ance of  even  a  solitary  one  of  these  people 
whom  ye  despise,  in  whom  I  take  what  to  you 
appears  so  unaccountable  an  interest. 

Thus  far  of  the  immediate  apologetic  purpose 
of  these  parables  and  their  moral.     Let  us  now 


THE  JOY  OF  FINDING  THINGS  LOST.        I  I  I 

consider    the    permanent    didactic   significance 
of  the  text  in  which  that  moral  is  expressed. 

I.  The  first  lesson  we  learn  therefrom  is,  tliat 
the  Divine  Being  takes  an  interest  in  the  moral 
fortunes  of  mankind.    There  is  joy  in  heaven  over 
sinners  repenting.     The  reference  to  heaven  is 
not  a  mere  poetic ^ev^  d' esprit,  or  piece  of  skilful 
fencing  on  the  part  of  a  hard-pressed  combatant. 
It  is  that  doubtless,  but  it  is  more.     It  is  a 
declaration   of  objective  truth  ;    it  expresses  a 
serious  belief  on   Christ's  part    that    His  own      , 
sentiments  are  shared  and  sympathised  with  by      \ 
God.     The  text  above  quoted,  in   short,  forms 
an  important  part  of  Christ's  doctrine  of  God.     ~ 
It  is  just  such  a  doctrine  as  we  should   expect 
to  hear  from  His  lips  ;  and  it  is  a  doctrine  at 
once  credible  and  welcome.     It  commends  itself 
to  our  conscience,  as  Christ  when  He  first  pro- 
claimed it  expected  it  to  commend  itself  to  the 
consciences    even   of  Pharisees.       He   had    no 
fear  of  being  asked  the  question  :  how  do  you 
know  that  the  mind   of  heaven   is  as  you  re- 
present .''     He  boldly  said  what  He  knew  every- 
body was  forgetting,  yet  what  He  also   knew 
nobody  would  dare  to  deny  when  said.     God-   ^ 
taught    souls    know    when    to     be    strong    in 
assertion,  and  Jesus  knew  better  than  any.     He 
gave  a  good  illustration  of  His  insight  in  the 
present  case.       His  bold  saying  grows  in  self- 
evidencing  power  the  more  it  is  reflected  on. 


I  12        THE  JOY  OF  FINDING  THINGS  LOST. 

It  throws  US  back  first  on  the  question,  how 
ought  we  ourselves  to  feel  in  regard  to  the 
moral  phenomenon  presented  in  repentance. 
Who  can  ask  himself  this  question  in  a  serious 
spirit,  without  feeling  that  it  is  reasonable  and 
worthy  to  have  some  pleasure,  yea,  not  a  little 
pleasure,  in  seeing  a  foolish  person  turn  wise,  a 
thoughtless  person  growing  thoughtful,  a  wicked 
man  turning  from  his  wickedness  ?  Can  you 
tell  us  anything  connected  with  a  fellow-crea- 
ture that  may  more  reasonably  give  a  good 
man  joy  }  What  outward  event  can  befal  him 
comparable  in  importance  to  this  inward  event, 
this  happy  beneficent  change  of  mind  ?  Falling 
heir  to  a  fortune  is  the  event  on  which  men 
are  wont  most  rapturously  to  felicitate  them- 
selves. But  what  if,  as  too  often  happens,  the 
lucky  favourite  of  fortune  behave  like  the 
prodigal,  and  waste  his  substance  with  riotous 
living ,''  In  that  case  the  prodigal's  return, 
penniless  but  wise,  is  a  far  more  legitimate 
occasion  for  congratulation  than  his  forth- 
going  from  his  father's  house  with  his  purse 
full  of  gold,  and  his  heart  full  of  vanity 
and  sensual  desire.  Whether  the  average 
Christian  would  congratulate  a  brother  more 
cordially  in  the  former  case  than  in  the 
latter,  may  be  doubtful ;  for  even  religious 
people,  it  is  to  be  feared,  sometimes  set  more 
value   on    outward  goods    than    on   the   goods 


1 


THE  JOY  OF  FINDING  THINGS  LOST.        II  3 

of  the  soul ;  on  material  wealth  than  on  wis- 
dom. But  one  can  see  clearly  enough  that  this 
is  not  the  worthiest  or  noblest  style  of  feeling  ; 
that  it  is  vulgar,  worldly,  a  thing  to  be  ashamed 
of  not  only  for  a  Christian,  but  even  for  every 
man  with  any  pretensions  to  culture.  For  all 
persons  of  culture  it  is  an  axiom  that  wisdom 
is  better  than  wealth,  and  that  a  sinner  repent- 
ing is  a  far  more  interesting  phenomenon  than 
a  poor  man  growing  rich. 

But  if  this  phenomenon  be  interesting  to  all 
right-minded  men,  why  not  also  to  God  ? 
Whatever  is  worthiest  of  man  is  worthy  of  God, 
and  vice  versa.  This  also  is  self-evident  to 
every  man  who  believes  in  a  personal  God. 
There  are  men  in  our  time  to  whom  the  assertion 
that  God  takes  an  interest  in  the  moral  fortunes 
of  humanity  has  no  meaning,  because  God  in 
their  dialect  means  a  Being  who  has  no  thoughts, 
no  feelings,  no  purposes,  no  consciousness,  no 
mind,  or  a  mind  no  more  like  ours,  as  Spinoza 
said,  than  the  dogstar  is  like  the  dog  that  barks. 
On  those  who  profess  this  philosophy  our 
argument  will,  of  course,  have  no  influence.  But 
we  appeal  to  theists,  and  press  on  them  the 
question  :  Why  should  Christ's  doctrine  seem 
incredible  .-'     Why  should  they  ask  sceptically  : 

"  And  is  there  care  in  heaven  ?    And  is  there  love 
In  heavenly  spirits  to  these  creatures  base. 
That  may  compassion  of  their  evils  move  ?" 

H 


I  14       THE  JOY  OF  FINDING  THINGS  LOST. 

Why   not,  if  God   be  a  living   God ;  a  spirit, 
not  a  blind  mindless  force  ? 

This  theology  of  Jesus  is  worthy  of  all 
acceptation.  A  God  who  enters  with  intense 
Christ-like  sympathy  into  the  moral  life  of  men 
is  a  God  we  can  worship  with  all  our  hearts. 
We  want  a  God  who  is  not  merely  high,  like 
the  deity  of  Deism,  but  who  humbleth  Him- 
self to  behold  the  things  done  in  the  earth. 
We  want  a  God  to  whom  moral  distinctions  are 
valid,  and  to  whom,  therefore,  a  change  from  evil 
to  good  can  be  a  welcome  event,  not  a  God  like 
that  of  Pantheism  to  whom,  or  which  rather, 
right  and  wrong  are  matters  of  indifference. 
We  want  a  God  who  finds  His  blessedness  in  the 
work  of  redemption,  not  an  epicurean  God 
whose  felicity  lies  in  keeping  aloof  from  the 
miserable  lot  of  mortals.  Celsus  said  that  the 
Incarnation  degraded  God.  Paul  speaks  of 
"the  Gospel  of  the  blessed  God,"*  implying 
that  the  blessedness  of  God  is  compatible  with 
the  self-humbling  part  assigned  to  Him  in  the 
Gospel,  yea,  that  He  finds  His  blessedness 
therein.  The  two  ways  of  thinking  mark  the 
difference  between  the  Pagan  and  the  Christian 
modes  of  conceiving  God.  Who  can  hesitate 
as  to  which  is  the  more  worthy  to  be  believed  ? 
Yet  strange  to  say  the  greater  number  even 
of  those  who   profess   the  Christian   Faith  do 

*   I  Timothy  i.  2. 


THE  JOY  OF  FINDING  THINGS  LOST.         I  I  5 

hesitate  to  believe  earnestly  and  thoroughly 
their  own  creed.  There  is  an  inveterate  tend- 
ency to  assert  the  majesty  of  God  at  the 
expense  of  His  sympathy,  to  believe  in  His 
dignity  and  to  doubt  His  grace.  The  very 
texts  which  most  emphatically  declare  the 
Divine  condescension  are  perverted  into  proofs 
of  the  contrary  doctrine.  How  often,  for  ex- 
ample, has  the  familiar  word  concerning  God's 
ways  being  higher  than  ours,  uttered  for  the 
express  purpose  of  obviating  incredulity  in  the 
forgiving  grace  of  God  previously  asserted  with 
much  emphasis,  been  used  by  learned  theo- 
logians to  establish  the  dogma  that  God's 
nature  is  so  essentially  unlike  man's  as  to 
be  altogether  inscrutable.  The  most  recent 
instance  of  this  we  have  met  with  occurs  in  a 
work  by  a  well-known  writer  on  the  awful  theme 
of  Everlasting  Punishment.  Protesting  against 
false  inferences  on  this  subject  from  the  Divine 
Love,  the  author  remarks  :"  God's  nature,  char- 
acter, and  method  of  dealing,  is  just  the  most 
mysterious  and  difficult  subject  on  which  the 
human  mind  can  be  exercised.  He  has  Him- 
self expressly  warned  us  in  that  passage  of  the 
prophet  Isaiah,  which  forms  part  of  my  text, 
that  His  views  and  methods  of  proceeding  are 
different  from  our  own  ;  '  My  thoughts  are  not 
your  thoughts,  neither  are  your  ways  my  ways. 


I  l6       THE  JOY  OF  FINDING  THINGS  LOST. 

saith  the  Lord.'  "*  The  caveat  against  sweep- 
ing optimistic  inferences  respecting  the  future 
life  may  not  be  uncalled  for,  but  the  use  made 
of  this  precious  Scripture  text  in  support  of  the 
caveat  is  nothing  short  of  a  mischievous  per- 
version. Infinitely  nearer  to  the  true  meaning 
of  the  prophetic  oracle  is  the  interpretation  put 
upon  it  in  a  hymn  worthy  of  a  place  in  every 
Protestant  Hymnal,  albeit  of  Catholic  author- 
ship, containing  such  stanzas  as  these  : 

There's  a  wideness  in  God's  mercy, 

Like  the  wideness  of  the  sea  : 
There's  a  kindness  in  His  justice, 

Which  is  more  than  hberty. 

There  is  no  place  where  earth's  sorrows 
Are  more  felt  than  up  in  heaven  ; 

There  is  no  place  where  earth's  failings 
Have  such  kindly  judgment  given. 

There  is  welcome  for  the  sinner, 

And  more  graces  for  the  good  : 
There  is  mercy  with  the  Saviour ; 

There  is  healing  in  His  blood. 

For  the  love  of  God  is  broader 
Than  the  measures  of  man's  mind  ; 

And  the  heart  of  the  Eternal 
Is  most  wonderfully  kind. 

*  "Everlasting  Punishment,"  by  E.   M.   Goulburn,  D.D. 
.p.  56. 


THE  JOY  OF  FINDING  THINGS  LOST.        I  I  7 

But  we  make  His  love  too  narrow 

By  false  limits  of  our  own  ; 
And  we  magnify  His  strictness 

With  a  zeal  He  will  not  own.* 


2.  The  second  lesson  we  learn  from  our  text 
is  that  the  Divine  interest  rests  not  on  the  race 
alone,  but  also  on  the  individual.  There  is  joy- 
in  heaven  over  one  sinner  repenting.  This  is  still 
harder  to  believe.  We  can  imagine  the  Divine 
Being  not  unconcerned  about  the  moral  history 
of  the  human  race  as  a  whole,  and  even  going 
the  length  of  devising  a  redemptive  plan  for 
bringing  many  sons  to  glory.  But  "one  sinner 
that  repenteth  " — does  not  that  seem  too  minute 
an  object  for  the  mind  of  Deity  to  rest  on .'' 
Even  we,  men,  find  it  hard  to  get  up  enthusiasm 
about  the  repentance,  however  genuine,  of  one 
solitary  human  being ;  unless  perchance  it  be 
some  one  in  high  social  position,  or  in  some 
way  distinguished  among  his  fellows  ;  a  pro- 
fligate nobleman,  a  sceptical  man  of  letters,  an 
unprincipled  politician,  or  a  fraudulent  merchant. 
When  a  sinner  of  such  rank  radically  and 
publicly  repents,  there  may  be  an  immense 
amount  of  gossiping  talk  about  the  event,  and 
also  some  honest  Christian   joy  over   it.     But 

*  "Hymns  by  Frederick  William  Faber,  D.D."  This 
Hymn  having,  as  yet,  found  a  place  in  few  Hymnals,  to  make 
it  better  known  we  give  it  at  length  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 


1  I  8       THE  JOY  OF  FINDING  THINGS  LOST. 

when  the  one  sinner  repenting  is  a  poor  stupid 
sot  who  wastes  his  earnings  on  drink,  or  an  un- 
happy creature  like  her  who  came  into  Simon's 
house  and  bathed  Christ's  feet  with  the  hot  tears 
of  godly  sorrow,  an  ignorant  navvy,  a  rough 
sailor,  a  swearing  tinker,  a  low  brutal  prize 
fighter,  how  vain  to  attempt  creating  a  sensa- 
tion by  the  tale !  What  does  it  matter  to  the 
world  what  becomes  of  such  obscure  degraded 
persons,  whether  they  turn  over  a  new  leaf,  or 
live  and  die  in  their  sins  ?  How  much  more, 
we  are  apt  to  think,  must  changes  in  the  cha- 
racters of  individual  men,  however  conspicuous, 
appear  utterly  insignificant  as  seen  from  heaven. 
Even  the  conversion  of  an  emperor  could 
hardly  make  a  sensation  up  yonder^  not  to  speak 
of  the  repentance  of  a  Jewish  tax-gatherer,  or  a 
beggar.  Be  the  penitent  a  Nero  or  a  Matthew, 
the  event  must  in  either  case  pass  without 
notice. 

Christ  declares  that  the  fact  is  not  so,  that, 
on  the  contrar}^,  repentance  in  every  separate 
instance  is  a  source  of  satisfaction  to  the  heart 
of  God.  For  when  He  speaks  of  one  sinner  He 
does  not  have  in  view  picked  samples,  sinners 
socially  distinguished.  He  is  defending  Him- 
self against  the  charge  of  having  relations  with 
the  lowest  stratum  of  Jewish  society,  and  the 
relevancy  of  His  defence  requires  that  we 
should  understand  the  "  one  sinner  "  to  be  not 


THE  JOY  OF  FINDING  THINGS  LOST.        I  19 

a  distinguished  sinner  like  Herod  whom  the 
Baptist  rebuked,  or  Caiaphas  who  heartlessly- 
sacrificed  the  unpopular  Prophet  of  Nazareth 
to  political  expediency,  but  any  sinner  picked 
at  random  out  of  the  rotting  refuse  of  the 
community. 

It  was  to  accentuate  this  truth  that  the 
second  parable  was  spoken,  which  after  the 
first  may  appear  uncalled  for.  It  was  designed 
to  show  that  there  might  be  joy  over  the 
recovery  of  things  of  small  value,  even  of  a  lost 
coin  of  the  value  of  a  few  pence  ;  such  a  coin 
being  a  better  emblem  of  publicans  and  sinners, 
as  they  appeared  to  the  Pharisees,  than  a  sheep, 
the  emblem  first  selected.  By  that  parable 
Christ  said  in  eftect :  "  The  repentance  of  even 
one  of  these  despicable  ones,  as  you  account 
them,  is  a  source  of  joy  to  the  heart  of  God." 

This  doctrine  of  Christ's,  that  God  takes  an 
interest  in  the  moral  history  of  individuals, 
even  the  meanest,  may  appear  strange ;  yet 
surely  it  is  not  incredible.  For,  in  the  first 
place,  if  God  really  regards  with  sympathetic 
interest  the  moral  history  of  the  race,  why 
should  He  not  take  similar  interest  in  the 
moral  history  of  individuals .''  The  multitude 
is  made  up  of  Jinits.  If  we  admit  it  to  be 
worthy  of  God  to  turn  many  to  righteousness, 
we  ought  not  to  wonder  that  He  rejoices  over 
even   one  sinner  turninsr  from  sin.     The  real 


I20       THE  JOY  OF  FINDING  THINGS  LOST. 

question  is  whether  the  idea  of  the  redemption 
of  the  human  race  be  God-worthy.  If  it  be, 
there  is  no  reason  for  scepticism  as  to  the 
Divine  interest  in  the  working  out  of  the  idea 
in  detail  in  the  experience  of  individual  men. 
The  company  of  the  redeemed  consists  of 
individuals  having  each  his  own  spiritual  his- 
tory ;  the  flock  in  the  fold  of  single  sheep,  each 
one  of  which  has  gone  astray  and  been  brought 
back  by  the  Shepherd. 

But    to    understand    and    fully    appreciate 
Christ's   doctrine,   at  this  point  we  must  con- 
sider  carefully   what   it   implies.       Two   great 
thoughts  are  virtually  contained  in  it,  one  con- 
cerning   God,    another   concerning   man.     The 
truth  in  effect  taught  concerning  God  is  tliat  He 
is  the  Father  of  our  spirits.     It  is  easy  to  see 
what  a  light  this  throws  on  the  question.     We 
can  now  understand  how  God  can  take  a  loving- 
interest    in    the   repentance    of    any   man,    no 
matter  how  obscure  or  degraded.     We  know 
what  a  difference  it  makes  to  our  own  feeling 
when  a  penitent  is  related  to  us  by  some  close 
tie  of  kinsmanship,  that  of  a  son  to  a  father  for 
example.     And   through  our  own  feelings  we 
can  understand  God's.     God  rejoices  over  the 
repentance  of  any  sinner,  because  in  every  such 
case   He  sees  a  dead  son  come  to  life  again, 
a   lost  son   found.      What  hope  lies   here   for 
those  who  have  sunk  so  low  as  to  have  forfeited 


THE  JOY  OF  FINDING  THINGS  LOST.        I  2  I 

a  place  in  the  sympathies  of  nearly  all  human 
hearts !  For  him  who  has  exhausted  human 
patience,  whom  the  most  hopeful  of  men  have 
given  up  in  despair,  there  is  still  hope  in  God. 
Even  this  moral  outcast,  this  sinner  despaired 
of,  this  wretch  considered  as  good  as  damned, 
may  return  to  God  with  good  hope,  nay,  with 
certainty  of  welcome,  taking  with  him  words 
similar  to  those  put  into  the  mouth  of  degraded, 
degenerate  Israelites,  saying  :  "  Doubtless,  O 
God,  Thou  art  my  Father,  though,  the  congre- 
gation of  Thy  faithful  ones  be  ignorant  of  me, 
and  even  loving-hearted  Christians  acknowledge 
me  not.  Thou,  O  Lord,  art  my  Father,  my 
Redeemer  from  everlasting  is  Thy  name." 

The  implied  truth  concerning  man  is  that 
every  man,  be  he  who  he  may,  is,  as  a  moral 
personality,  a  being  of  unspeakable  value.  The 
priceless  worth  of  a  human  soul  is  one  of  the 
great  thoughts  for  which  the  world  has  to 
thank  Christ.  Formally  enunciated  in  other 
places  it  is  latent  in  this  text.  To  say  that 
God  rejoices  in  the  repentance  of  a  single 
sinner  is  to  say  that  every  human  being,  as 
endowed  with  reason  and  free  will,  and  subject 
to  moral  responsibilities  and  infinite  possibilities 
of  good  and  evil,  has  a  significance  for  Deity 
which  no  thing,  however  vast,  not  the  globe 
itself,  can  possibly  have.  It  is  a  doctrine  in 
which  Christianity  comes  into  sharp  conflict   at 


122        THE  JOY  OF  FINDING  THINGS  LOST. 

once  with  the  mercantile  spirit,  and  with  the 
scientific  tendencies  of  our  age,  both  of  which 
treat  man  as  of  small  account.  The  man  of 
keen  business  habits  cares  so  little  for  the 
higher  interests  of  his  fellow  mortals  that  he 
can  enrich  himself  by  trading  on  their  moral 
weaknesses,  and  fill  his  cofTers  with  the  pence  of 
tipplers,  and  drunkards,  and  opium  eaters,  and 
even  with  the  earnings  of  harlots.  Even  "Chris- 
tian "  traders  and  "  Christian "  nations,  so 
called,  can  behave  in  this  nefarious  fashion. 
And  how  cheap  is  human  life  when  money- 
making  is  concerned.  The  shipowner  can  send 
a  crew  of  sailors  to  sea  in  a  rotten  vessel 
without  hesitation,  because  he  can  make  a  little 
profit  so  long  as  it  keeps  above  water,  and  is 
insured  against  loss  even  if  it  go  down  with  all 
hands.  Modern  science,  likewise,  cheapens 
man's  value.  Its  anthropological  doctrine  is 
that  man  is  made  in  the  image  of  the  ape,  and 
is  destined  to  everlasting  extinction  at  death ; 
only  a  little  superior  to  a  dog  even  in  his 
moral  nature,  and  not  at  all  superior  to  a  dog 
in  his  destiny.  In  opposition  to  both,  Christ 
asserts  the  importance  of  man  ;  declaring  all 
souls  to  be  precious,  and  deeming  the  repent- 
ance of  the  most  insignificant  of  mortals  an 
event  of  solemn  interest,  because  it  means  the 
saving  of  a  soul,  the  revival  in  one  more 
instance  of  the  higher  life  of  the  spirit.     The 


THE  JOY  OP^  FINDING  THINGS  LOST.        I  23 

human  race  has  a  vital  interest  in  the  perpetua- 
tion, in  spite  of  commerce  and  science,  of  this 
Christian  way  of  thinking.  It  tends  to  the 
amelioration  of  society  in  every  respect,  as  not 
less  surely  the  other  way  tends  to  its  degrada- 
tion. 

3.  Yet  a  third  lesson  do  we  learn  from  the 
moral  appended  to  the  parable  of  the  lost  sheep, 
viz.,  that  the  aberrations  of  men,  far  from  alien- 
ating the  sympathies  of  God,  form  a  source  of 
special  attraction  to  Him.  There  is  joy  in 
heaven  over  one  sinner  repenting  move  than  over 
ninety  and  ninejnst  men  that  need  710  repentance. 
The  joyconsistsin  the  peculiar  pleasure,  known  to 
all,  of  finding  things  lost — a  joy  sensibly  greater 
than  that  of  undisturbed  possession.  If  this 
joy,  the  reality  of  which  in  human  experience  is 
indubitable,  be,  as  Christ  affirms,  valid  also  for 
God,  then  two  inferences  follow.  First,  a  fallen 
race  is  in  some  respects  an  object  of  more  in- 
terest to  the  heart  of  God  than  an  unfallen  one. 
That  seems  a  very  bold  thought,  and  it  is  one 
which  may  be  easily  perverted.  Yet  it  is  not 
without  warrant  in  Scripture.  For,  not  to  speak 
of  this  text,  Paul  avers  that  sin  entered  that 
grace  might  abound.  Man  fell  that  God  might 
have  scope  for  His  redeeming  love ;  Divine 
grace  has  a  career  in  a  world  full  of  sin.  Such 
is  the  meaning  of  the  apostle,  and  it  is  one  with 
which  all    earnest    believers  in   the  creed  that 


I  24       THE  JOY  OF  FINDING  THINGS  LOST. 

makes  grace  the  highest  attribute  of  the  Divine 
character  can  cordially  sympathise. 

The  other  inference  is  that  the  greater  the 
sinner  the  greater  the  Divine  interest  in  his 
change  from  evil  to  good.  If  there  be  a  joy  in 
finding,  as  distinct  from  the  joy  of  possession, 
then  the  greater  the  loss,  or  the  greater  the 
trouble  of  finding,  the  greater  the  joy.  A  shep- 
herd would  have  a  greater  joy  in  recovering 
a  sheep  that  had  strayed  many  miles  from  the 
fold,  than  in  recovering  one  that  had  wandered 
only  a  short  distance.  This  is  no  reason  for 
wandering — that  were  to  sin  that  grace  might 
abound  ;  but  it  is  a  reason  for  special  zeal  in  the 
search  after  great  wanderers,  and  for  special 
hopefulness  as  to  their  ultimate  recovery.  It 
was  one  of  Christ's  reasons  for  going  after 
the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel.  One 
reason,  we  already  know,  was  the  intense  love 
He  earned  by  saving  those  to  whom  much  had 
to  be  forgiven.  But  another  was  the  mere 
pleasure  of  finding  those  who  had  strayed 
furthest  from  righteousness.  This  motive  will 
tell  on  all  who  share  Christ's  enthusiasm  of 
humanity.  And,  further,  it  will  sustain  them 
amid  the  fatigues  of  the  search  after  lost  ones,  to 
think  that  God  has  an  interest  in  the  restoration 
of  those  who  have  gone  furthest  away  from 
Him.  Let  them  remember  that  God's  honour 
as  the  God  of  grace  is  advanced  by  beautifying 


THE  JOY  OF  FINDING  THINGS  LOST.        I  25 

the  vilest,  sanctifying  the  most  unholy,  lifting 
the  morally  beggared  out  of  the  dunghill,  and 
setting  them  among  the  princes  of  His  kingdom. 
A  physician  likes  to  achieve  great  cures,  and 
the  God,  whose  name  from  old  is  Redeemer^  de- 
lights in  working  miracles  of  grace  in  a  Paul, 
an  Augustine,  or  a  Bunyan.  While  the  world 
lasts  such  miracles  may  be  looked  for — a  source 
of  joy  unspeakable  to  the  Church  on  earth,  and 
to  God  in  heaven. 


By  the  kindness  of  the  publishers  we  are  enabled 
to  give  here  hi  extenso  the  Hymn  quoted  on  page  116. 
The  text  is  taken  from  "  Hymns  by  Frederick  William 
Faber,  D.D."  Second  Edition.  London  :  Thomas 
Richardson  &  Son,  Dublin  and  Derby.  New  York : 
Henry  H.  Richardson  &  Co.     1871. 

COME    TO    JESUS. 

Souls  of  men,  why  will  ye  scatter 
Like  a  crowd  of  frightened  sheep .'' 

Foolish  hearts,  why  will  ye  wander 
From  a  love  so  true  and  deep  ? 

Was  there  ever  kindest  shepherd 

Half  so  gentle,  half  so  sweet 
As  the  Saviour  who  would  have  us 

Come  and  gather  round  His  feet .'' 

It  is  God  :  His  love  looks  mighty, 

But  is  mightier  than  it  seems. 
'Tis  our  Father  :  and  His  fondness 

Goes  far  out  beyond  our  dreams. 


THE  JOY  OF  FINDING  THINGS  LOST. 

There's  a  wideness  in  God's  mercy, 

Like  the  wideness  of  the  sea  ; 
There's  a  kindness  in  His  justice, 

Which  is  more  than  hberty. 

There  is  no  place  where  earth's  sorrows 
Are  more  felt  than  up  in  heaven  ; 

There  is  no  place  where  earth's  failings 
Have  such  kindly  judgment  given. 

There  is  welcome  for  the  sinner, 
And  more  graces  for  the  good  ; 

There  is  mercy  with  the  Saviour  ; 
There  is  healing  in  His  blood. 

There  is  grace  enough  for  thousands 
Of  new  worlds  as  great  as  this  ; 

There  is  room  for  fresh  creations 
In  that  upper  home  of  bliss. 

For  the  love  of  God  is  broader 

Than  the  measures  of  man's  mind  ; 

And  the  heart  of  the  Eternal 
Is  most  wonderfully  kind. 

But  we  make  His  love  too  narrow 

By  false  limits  of  our  own  ; 
And  we  magnify  His  strictness 

With  a  zeal  He  will  not  own. 

There  is  plentiful  redemption 
In  the  blood  that  has  been  shed  ; 

There  is  joy  for  all  the  members 
In  the  sorrows  of  the  Head. 

'Tis  not  all  we  owe  to  Jesus  ; 

It  is  something  more  than  all, 
Greater  good  because  of  evil, 

Larger  mercy  through  the  fall. 


THE  JOY  OF  FINDING  THINGS  LOST.        I  27 

Pining  souls,  come  nearer  Jesus, 

And  O  come  not  doubting  thus, 
But  with  faith  that  trusts  more  bravely 

His  huge  tenderness  for  us. 

If  our  love  were  but  more  simple, 
We  should  take  Him  at  His  word ; 

And  our  lives  would  be  all  sunshine 
In  the  sweetness  of  our  Lord. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  SYMPATHY  OF  CHRIST. 

"  Himself  took  our  infirmities,  and  bare  our  sicknesses." — 
Matt.  viii.  17. 

This  quotation  from  the  prophetic  Scriptures 
forms  the  conclusion  of  one  of  those  paragraphs 
in  Matthew's  Gospel  which  relate  not  individual 
miracles,  but  an  indefinite  number  of  them 
taken  en  masse,  and  which  create  the  impression 
that  Christ's  miraculous  agency  as  a  healer  of 
disease  was  far  more  extensive  than  we  should 
infer  from  the  narratives  of  particular  acts. 
"  When  even  was  come,"  we  read,  "  they 
brought  unto  Him  many  possessed  with  devils, 
and  He  cast  out  the  spirits  with  a  word,  and 
healed  all  that  were  sick."  It  was  the  evening 
of  a  Sabbath  day,  near  the  beginning  of  Christ's 
ministry  in  Capernaum,  which  throughout  had 
been  crowded  with  striking  events.  The  first 
was  the  appearance  of  Jesus  as  a  preacher  in 
the  synagogue,  which  doubtless  of  itself  created 
a  stir  among  the  people.  But  the  sermon, 
though  attracting  much  attention,  all  the  more 
if,  as  is  probable,  it  was  a  first  one,  was  eclipsed 


THE  SYMPATHY  OF  CHRIST.  I  29 

by  deeds  of  a  most  unwonted  character.  During 
the  progress  of  the  service,  so  Luke  informs  us, 
one  of  the  hearers,  a  demoniac,  what  in  our 
day  might  be  called  an  epileptic,  was  overtaken 
with  one  of  the  sudden  attacks  to  which  such 
poor  sufferers  are  liable,  and  speaking  as  the 
mouthpiece  of  the  demon  uttered  words  depre- 
cating the  influence  of  the  prophet  of  Nazareth. 
Jesus,  suspending  His  discourse,  addressed  to 
the  poor  sufferer,  or  the  spirit  that  possessed 
him,  a  word  which  was  immediately  followed 
by  a  return  to  consciousness  and  sanity.  As- 
tonished at  His  teaching,  those  present  were 
still  more  astonished  at  this  display  of  power. 

Leaving  the  synagogue  Jesus  returned  home 
to  the  house  of  Simon  the  fisherman  and  the 
disciple  of  after  days,  to  find  the  m.other-in-law 
of  his  host  taken  with  a  great  fever,  threatening 
her  life,  and  alarming  friends.  Some  of  these, 
just  come  from  the  synagogue  where  they  had 
witnessed  the  marvellous  cure  of  the  demoniac, 
had  recourse  in  their  anxiety  to  the  stranger 
who  had  come  among  them,  thinking  that  He 
who  had  power  over  the  evil  spirits  might  also 
have  power  over  diseases  of  every  description. 
They  appealed  not  in  vain.  Jesus,  full  of  sym- 
pathy and  conscious  of  power,  came  to  the 
bed  side,  took  the  sick  one  by  the  hand  and 
lifted  her  up,  and  the  fever  left  her,  and  she 
arose  and  ministered  unto  them. 


130  THE  SYMPATHY  OF  CHRIST. 

The  fame  of  these  miracles  spread  with 
lightning  rapidity  through  the  town,  and  the 
result  was  that  in  the  evening  of  the  same  day, 
when  the  sun  was  going  down  over  the  hills,  a 
great  crowd  of  people  assembled  around  the 
house  where  Jesus  resided,  bringing  their  sick 
to  be  healed.  Mark  in  his  graphic  way  states 
that  "  all  the  city  was  gathered  together  at  the 
door."  Many  kinds  of  diseases  were  represented 
in  that  motley  assembly.  But  no  poor  sufferer 
was  disappointed.  Jesus  "healed  all  that  were 
sick." 

Here  was  a  truly  Messianic  achievement ! 
The  first  evangelist,  who  delights  to  grace  his 
narrative  of  the  ministry  of  Jesus  with  citations 
from  the  Hebrew  scriptures  containing  oracles 
that  have  at  length  found  their  fulfilment,  will 
certainly  recognise  in  this  wondrous  scene  an 
occasion  worthy  of  this  honour.  He  bethinks 
himself  of  that  weird  description  of  the  suffer- 
ing servant  of  Jehovah  in  the  writings  of  Isaiah, 
and  the  text  which  appears  to  him  most  apposite 
is :  "  Surely  He  hath  borne  our  griefs  and 
carried  our  sorrows."  Surely,  indeed !  The 
oracle  is  happily  chosen.  What  strikes  Matthew's 
mind  is  the  syjupathy  with  human  suffering 
displayed  in  these  healings.  He  could  easily 
have  found  other  texts  descriptive  of  the  physi- 
cal side  of  the  phenomenon,  e.g.,  the  familiar 
words  of  the  103d  Psalm,  "who  healeth  all  thy 


THE  SYMPATHY  OF  CHRIST.  I31 

diseases.'^  But  it  was  the  spiritual  not  the 
physical  side  of  the  matter  that  chiefly  arrested 
his  attention :  therefore  he  wrote  not  "  that  it 
might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken  by  David, 
saying,  '  who  healeth  all  thy  diseases,' "  but 
"that  it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken 
by  Isaiah  the  prophet,  saying,  '  Himself  took 
our  infirmities  and  bare  our  diseases,' "  trans- 
lating for  himself  from  the  Hebrew  to  make 
the  text  better  suit  his  purpose. 

The  evangelist  has  penetrated  to  the  heart 
of  the  matter,  and  speaks  by  a  most  genuine 
inspiration.  For  the  really  important  thing  in 
the  events  of  that  Sabbath  evening,  and  in  all 
similar  events,  was  the  sympathy  displayed, 
that  sympathy  by  Avhich  Jesus  took  upon  Him- 
self, as  a  burden  to  His  heart,  the  sufferings  of 
mankind.  That  was  the  thing  of  ideal  signifi- 
cance, of  perennial  value,  a  gospel  for  all  time. 
The  acts  of  healing  benefited  the  individual 
sufferers  only,  and  the  benefit  passed  away  with 
themselves.  But  the  sympathy  has  a  meaning 
for  us  as  well  as  for  them.  It  is  as  valuable  to- 
day as  it  was  eighteen  centuries  ago.  Yea,  it 
is  of  far  greater  value,  for  the  gospel  of  Christ's 
sympathy  has  undergone  developments  of  which 
the  recipients  of  benefit  in  Capernaum  little 
dreamed.  Christ's  compassion  signified  to  them 
that  He  was  a  man  to  whom  they  might  always 
take  their   sick    friends  with  good  hope  of  a 


132  THE  SYMPATHY  OF  CHRIST. 

cure.  How  much  more  it  signifies  to  us  !  We 
see  there  the  sin-bearer  as  well  as  the  disease- 
bearer,  the  sympathetic  High  Priest  of  humanity 
who  hath  compassion  on  the  ignorant,  the 
erring,  the  morally  frail ;  who,  as  a  brother  in 
temptation,  is  ever  ready  to  succour  the  tempted, 
whose  love  to  the  sinful  is  as  undying  as  Him- 
self, "  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever." 
And  surely  we  find  all  this  in  the  scene  in 
Capernaum  most  legitimately  !  Surely  the 
doctrine  of  Christ's  sacerdotal  sympathy  with 
sinners  set  forth  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
is  a  most  reasonable  development  from  the 
healing  miracles  recorded  in  the  gospels  !  For 
it  cannot  be  thought  that  One  who  so  took 
.  men's  diseases  on  His  spirit  would  not  also  take 
their  sins  to  heart  with  at  least  an  equally 
tender  and  yearning  sympathy.  And  how 
much  that  implies !  An  ideally  perfect  sym- 
pathy with  sinners  will  make  Him  who  experi- 
ences it  feel  as  if  He  were  a  sinner  Himself. 
He  will  go  about  imputing  the  world's  sin  to 
Himself,  confessing  it,  desiring  to  take  it  away, 
if  by  any  means  that  be  possible ;  willing  to 
die  if  that  will  serve  the  purpose ;  thankful  if 
the  constitution  of  the  universe  will  admit  of 
the  extinction  of  the  world's  sin  on  any  such 
method. 

But  while  we  can  easily,  and  do  most  readily, 
read  these  thoughts  into  our  text,  it  must  be 


THE  SYMPATHY  OF  CHRIST.  I33 

acknowledged  that  the  text  itself  contains  no 
allusion  to  them.  What  is  present  to  the 
evangelist's  mind  in  quoting  the  prophetic 
oracle  is  the  revelation  of  gracious  sympathy 
with  suffering  made  in  the  healing  miracles. 
It  may  be  well  that  we  should  refrain  from 
contemplating  the  scene  from  the  high  dogmatic 
standpoint,  and  content  ourselves  with  enquir- 
ing what  we  may  learn  in  the  same  line  from 
the  healing  miracles  of  which  so  many  were 
wrought  in  the  town  of  Capernaum  on  that 
memorable  Sabbath  evening. 

These  miracles,  then,  may  be  regarded  in 
three  lights,  in  all  of  which  they  are  full  of  per- 
manent significance :  as  a  revelation  of  Christ, 
as  a  prophecy  of  better  days,  and  as  an  inspiration 
to  all  who  honour  the  name  and  cherish  the  spirit 
of  Jesus. 

I.  First,  in  the  miracles  of  healing  we  see, 
with  Matthew,  a  revelation  of  the  sympathetic 
heart  of  Jesus.  Students  of  Christian  evidences 
are  aware  that  another  view  of  these  miracles 
widely  prevails,  according  to  which  they  were 
signs  attached  to  Christ's  doctrine  to  support 
his  claim  to  be  regarded  as  a  divinely  accredited 
teacher.  Without  saying  that  this  view  is  alto- 
gether wrong  or  inadmissible,  we  would  say 
with  much  confidence  that  it  is  quite  secondary 
and  subordinate.  It  seems  to  have  been  the 
view  in  favour  with  the  men  of  Nazareth  when, 


134  THE  SYMPATHY  OF  CHRIST. 

as  hinted  by  Jesus,  they  expected  Him  to  do 
among  them  whatever  mighty  works  they  had 
heard  of  His  working  in  Capernaum.  He  had 
healed  a  demoniac  in  the  Capernaum  synagogue  ; 
let  him  heal  another  in  the  Nazareth  synagogue. 
The  fame  of  that  memorable  Sabbath  evening 
in  the  town  by  the  lake  had  reached  their 
ears;  let  Him  rehearse  the  achievements  of 
that  night  in  His  native  town,  and  so  prove 
beyond  dispute  that  He  had  a  commission 
to  preach  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord,  and 
to  perform  the  functions  of  Messiah.  Strange 
to  say,  Jesus  wrought  very  few  miracles  of 
healing  in  Nazareth,  far  fewer  than  in  Caper- 
naum, although  He  could  not  but  have  had  a 
desire  to  show  kindness  to  His  fellow-towns- 
men. His  former  playmates  and  schoolfellows, 
by  healing  the  sick  in  their  families.  He 
wrought  fewest  miracles  where  they  were  most 
needed,  if  the  chief  end  of  miracles  was  to  sup- 
ply evidence  of  Messianic  claims.  He  can 
hardly  have  been  of  the  mind  that  such  was 
their  chief  end.  Not  only  did  He  not  work 
many  miracles  in  Nazareth,  but  it  is  recorded 
that  He  could  not.  "  He  could  there,"  says 
Mark,  "  do  no  mighty  work,  save  that  he  laid 
his  hands  upon  a  few  sick  folk,  and  healed 
them."*  The  reason  was  the  lack  of  believing 
receptivity.     The  Nazarenes,  with  their  demand 

*  Mark  vi.  5. 


THE  SYMPATHY  OF  CHRIST.  I35 

for  signs  of  Messiahship,  and  their  cold,  critical 
temper,  paralysed  the  arm  of  the  Lord.  Not 
that  Christ's  power  depended  for  its  existence 
on  the  faith  of  recipients  of  benefit,  but  that, 
like  every  other  spiritual  power,  it  was  apt  to  be 
thrown  back  on  itself  by  a  chilling  unsympa- 
thetic attitude.  An  orator  is  apt  to  fail  Avhen 
addressing  an  unsympathetic  audience ;  a  skil- 
ful musician  seldom  succeeds  in  bringing  out  of 
his  instrument  its  finest  effects  amidst  dull,  in- 
appreciative  listeners.  Genius  is  a  shy,  retiring 
spirit,  which  manifests  itself  only  to  faith  and 
love.  Even  so  with  the  miraculous  healing 
power  of  Jesus.  It  existed  independently  of 
popular  moods,  even  as  does  the  oratorical 
power  of  the  speaker,  and  the  musical  talent 
of  the  performer ;  but  it  manifested  itself  only 
amid  favouring  circumstances. 

And  this  very  fact  proves  that  the  working  of 
healing  miracles  was  not  with  Jesus  a  matter  of 
calculation,  but  rather  of  the  spontaneous  forth- 
putting  of  endowment.  He  did  not  say,  "  Go 
to,  I  will  work  a  miracle  at  this  point,  to  give 
authority  to  what  I  have  stated."  He  did  not 
cure  the  epileptic  patient  in  the  Capernaum 
synagogue  to  back  up  the  sermon,  and  make 
the  hearers  regard  it  as  the  discourse  of  a 
prophet,  or  divinely  commissioned  man.  He 
wrought  that  cure  in  spontaneous  instinctive 
response  to  the  cry  of  suffering.     The  need  of 


136  THE  SYMPATHY  OF  CHRIST. 

the  sufferer  appealed  to  His  sympathy,  and 
sympathy  brought  into  play  curative  power. 

According  to  this  simple,  natural  view,  the 
miracles  of  Jesus  were,  not  less  than  His  preach- 
ing, a  revelation  of  the  grace  that  dwelt  in  Him. 
His  words  in  Nazareth,  in  Capernaum,  every- 
where, were  "words  of  grace  ;  "  His  works  were 
likewise  works  of  grace ;  equally  with  the  words 
a  forth-flowing  from  the  well  of  love  within,  not 
mere  signs  attached  to  these  to  increase  their 
credit.  In  full  accord  with  this  view  is  the 
general  character  of  Christ's  wonderful  works. 
They  were  not  mere  astonishing  feats,  prodigies, 
magic  transformations  of  dead  pieces  of  wood 
into  trees,  or  of  human  beings  into  stone  statues, 
and  the  like.  They  were  beneficent  works,  hav- 
ing a  sufficient  motive  for  their  performance  in 
the  desire  of  the  doer  to  confer  benefit. 

One  recommendation  of  this  simple  view  of 
Christ's  miracles  is,  that  with  it  we  can  walk  in 
company  so  far  with  men  who  do  not  believe  in 
the  miraculous  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word  ; 
that  is,  in  that  which  rises  above  nature,  or  is 
contrary  to  nature.  For  it  so  happens  that 
there  are  not  a  few  nowadays  who  are  utter 
disbelievers  in  the  supernatural,  who  neverthe- 
less believe  the  evangelic  reports  of  our  Lord's 
healing  works  to  be  in  the  main  true.  The 
view  they  take  is  that  these  works,  though  very 
surprising  and  unusual,  were  yet  wrought  ac- 


THE  SYMPATHY  OF  CHRIST.  I  37 

cording  to  some  obscure  laws  of  nature  belong- 
ing to  the  department  of  "  moral  therapeutics," 
which  have  as  yet  been  very  little  studied.  Christ, 
by  some  happy  endowment  of  His  nature,  was 
en  rapport  with  these  laws,  and  hence  it  came  as 
easy  to  Him  to  heal  disease  by  a  word,  as  to 
an  ordinary  physician  to  cure  ailments  for  which 
specific  remedies  have  been  discovered.  Now 
this  theory  of  "  moral  therapeutics  "  may  appear 
to  us  a  very  far-fetched  one  ;  but  it  has  this  one 
merit  at  least,  that  it  enables  unbelievers  in  the 
supernatural,  without  open  inconsistency,  to 
admit  Christ's  healing  works  as  matters  of  fact. 
Thus  far  they  can  go  with  believers,  and  it  is 
well.  But  they  can  go  further.  With  believers 
they  can  regard  these  works  as  the  direct  out- 
come of  Christ's  sympathy.  They  do  so  regard 
them,  and  they  take  pleasure  in  expatiating  on 
the  intensely  humane  spirit  revealed  in  these 
works  ;  the  deep,  tender  sympathy  with  the 
world's  woe,  yearning  to  heal  it,  and  by  its  very 
yearning  to  a  certain  extent  successful.  This, 
too,  is  well.  It  is  good  that  at  least  the  Re- 
deemer's love,  if  not  His  supernatural  power, 
should  be  admitted  by  men  of  all  schools.  And 
that  is  a  reason  why  we  should  accentuate  the 
view  of  miracles  according  to  which  they  are  a 
self-manifestation  of  Christ's  gracious  love,  as 
distinct  from  the  view  according  to  which  they 
are  signs  attached  to  a  system  of  doctrine  to 


138  THE  SYMPATHY  OF  CHRIST. 

accredit  it  as  Divine.  The  latter  view  the  ad- 
herents of  a  naturalistic  philosophy  cannot  ac- 
cept, because  it  implies  a  strictly  supranatural- 
istic  conception  of  miracles.  But  the  former 
they  can  and  do  accept,  and  just  on  that  ac- 
count we  should  give  prominence  to  it,  while 
declining  to  acquiesce  in  a  merely  naturalistic 
conception  of  the  Gospel  miracles.  For  it  is 
well,  we  repeat,  that  the  love  of  Christ  should 
be  universally  believed  in,  accepted  as  an  essen- 
tial part  of  the  catholic  verity  by  the  whole  of 
Christendom.  It  is  well  that  Jesus  should 
stand  out  to  the  eye  of  the  whole  world  as  the 
One  Man  who  loved  the  human  race  with  all 
His  heart,  who  burned  with  desire  to  consume 
the  world's  sin  and  misery — to  bear  the  sin  as  a 
High  Priest,  to  heal  the  misery  as  a  Physician  ; 
and  who,  because  of  the  ardour  of  His  love, 
accomplished  feats  which  made  men  wonder 
at  the  time,  and  which  make  men  wonder 
still. 

2.  The  Gospel  miracles  are,  secondly,  a  pro- 
pJiecy  of  better  days  for  the  world. 

The  days  of  miracles,  we  often  hear,  are  past, 
but  Christ's  mighty  works  nevertheless  did  not 
happen  in  vain.  They  are  a  system  of  signs,  as 
well  as  a  revelation  and  a  monument  of  the 
Saviour's  love.  They  are  signs  that  disease 
does  not  belong  to  the  true  order  of  nature,  and 
prophecies  of  a  good  time  coming  when  the  true 


THE  SYMPATHY  OF  CHRIST.  I  39 

order  shall  be  restored.  Such  they  seem  to 
have  been  in  Christ's  intention.  Judging  from 
His  conduct,  there  were  two  things  which  He 
greatly  desired — the  extinction  of  sin,  and  the 
extirpation  of  misery.  These  things  He  would 
do  if  He  could.  The  will  was  there  at  least  if 
not  the  power.  Not  only  did  He  desire  these 
things,  but  He  believed  them  to  be  attainable. 
He  laboured  at  both  tasks  in  hope,  achieving 
some  results  by  His  personal  efforts,  but  believ- 
ing far  more  to  be  possible.  This  mind  of 
Christ  has  much  significance  for  a  believer.  To 
unbelief,  of  course,  it  will  appear  simply  the  ^ 
hallucination  of  a  deluded  but  amiable  enthu- 
siasm, whose  loving  heart  dreamt  of  impossi- 
bilities. But  to  faith,  Christ's  hope  is  a  ground 
of  hope.  Because  He  hoped  believers  look  for 
a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth 
righteousness,  and  along  with  it  health  and 
peace.  They  regard  the  earth  in  its  present 
state  as  a  mother  groaning  and  travailing  in 
pain,  comforted  amid  present  sorrows  by  the 
expectation  of  a  glorious  birth.  Of  all  this 
the  Gospel  miracles  are  a  sign  and  prophecy. 
They  are  indeed  a  sign  and  prophecy  only  to 
those  who  believe,  not  to  those  that  believe 
not.  To  unbelief,  will  and  power  in  Christ  are 
divided,  to  faith  they  are  conjoined.  He  can 
do   all   He  desires.     His  desire  is  the   indica- 


T40  THE  SYMPATHY  OF  CHRIST. 

tion  of  the  will  of  heaven,  whose  power  is  felt 
through  all  creation. 

3.  Once  more  the  Gospel  miracles  are  an 
inspiration  to  all  who  honour  the  name  and 
cherish  the  spirit  of  Christ.  They  say  to  such, 
"  Go  thou  and  do  likewise."  We  cannot  do 
all  Christ  did,  but  we  can  adopt  His  aim,  and 
work  for  it  according  to  our  ability.  We  can 
resolve  to  live  for  the  good  of  man  in  every 
sense,  spiritual,  social,  physical,  and  strive  to 
give  effect  to  our  resolution  as  we  have  oppor- 
tunity. There  may  be  cordial  co-operation  here 
on  the  part  of  men  whose  theological  attitudes 
are  wide  as  the  poles  asunder.  All  can  be 
disciples  of  Jesus  in  this  who  care  for  their  kind. 
The  sum  of  the  Christian  religion  is  to  believe 
in  God's  love,  and  to  love  God  and  men.  There 
are  many  in  our  time  who  have  dropped  the 
first  item  in  this  summary  out  of  their  creed, 
and  have  ceased  to  believe  in  a  God  of  love. 
Their  religion  reduces  itself  to  the  cultivation  of 
a  generous  interest  in  humanity.  Even  they 
can  be  fellow  workers  with  Christ  by  giving 
practical  effect  to  their  own  meagre  creed.  Let 
them  do  good  as  they  have  opportunity.  Let 
them  cherish  and  propagate  benevolent  affec- 
tions, and  act  on  them,  not  merely  theorise 
about  them.  All  who  do  this  serve  Christ's 
cause,  even  though  it  should  be  involuntarily. 
Not  only  so,  they  share   Christ's   faith,   more 


THE  SYMPATHY  OF  CHRIST,  I4I 

perhaps  than  they  might  care  to  acknowledge. 
Christ  beheved  that  the  world  could  be  made 
better,  and  He  regarded  it  as  a  high  duty  to 
care  for  the  weak,  the  sick,  the  frail.  There  are 
those  who  do  not  share  these  convictions.  The 
pessimist  does  not  regard  the  world,  or  man- 
kind, as  improvable.  The  world  in  his  view  is 
a  gigantic  blunder,  human  life  is  not  worth 
living,  man  is  a  contemptible  creature,  and  the 
doom  of  the  race  is  to  grow  worse  and  worse, 
and  eventually  to  perish.  The  Darwinist, 
faithful  to  the  theory  of  the  survival  of  the 
fittest,  might  consider  it  best  for  the  interests  of 
mankind  that  the  weak,  the  sick,  the  frail, 
should  be  allowed  to  perish,  or  even  be  actively 
dismissed  from  the  world.  Thereby  at  least 
the  physical  condition  of  man  would  be  greatly 
ameliorated.  These  dark  doctrines  no  professor;, 
of  the  "  religion  of  humanity  "  can  accept.  He 
must  look  on  the  future  of  man  with  hope, 
otherwise  the  nerve  of  his  energies  would  be 
cut.  He  cannot  adopt  the  law  of  the  survival 
of  the  fittest  as  a  principle  in  morals,  for  he 
must  feel  that  in  so  doing  he  would  be  sacri- 
ficing the  spiritual  to  the  physical,  and  destroy- 
ing the  sacred  instinct  of  sympathy  which  is  the 
conservative  salt  of  society. 

It  is  for  those  who  are  disciples  of  Christ  in  a 
far  higher  sense  to  see  to  it  that  they  are  not 
outstripped  in  the  race  of  philanthropy  by  the 


142  THE  SYMPATHY  OF  CHRIST. 

adherents  of  this  modern  rehgion.  Let  such 
remember  that  the  outcome  of  all  true  faith  and 
piety  is  humanity.  "  Pure  religion  and  unde- 
filed  before  God  and  the  Father  is  this,  To  visit 
the  fatherless  and  widows  in  their  affliction, 
and  to  keep  himself  unspotted  from  the  world."* 
The  good  Samaritan  is  the  true  Christian.  The 
man  who  can  witness  human  want  and  suffering 
and  pass  by  on  the  other  side  may  be  very 
religious,  very  orthodox,  very  scrupulously  at- 
tentive to  all  proprieties  and  holy  customs,  but 
he  is  not  a  Christian.  Christ  says  to  all  such, 
"  I  never  knew  you." 

In  the  foregoing  discourse  we  have  deliber- 
ately abstained  from  entering  on  the  high  pqth 
of  theological  contemplation,  that  we  might 
emphasise  those  aspects  of  Christian  truth  in 
which  the  greatest  number  can  agree.  'iWe  have 
thrown  the  interests  of  the  soul  into  the  back- 
ground for  the  moment,  that  the  claims  of  the 
body  might  have  an  opportunity  of  asserting 
themselves.  The  former  interests  are  the  higher, 
but  they  are  the  subject  of  much  dispute ;  the 
latter  interests,  if  the  lower,  are  those  in  con- 
nection with  which  there  can  be  co-operation  on 
the  part  of  men  far  from  each  other  in  their 
theological  opinions.  And  surely  this  co-opera- 
tion is  very  much  to  be  desired.  For  while  the 
saving  of  the  soul,  in  the  high  transcendental 
*  James  i.  27. 


THE  SYMPATHY  OF  CHRIST.  1 43 

sense,  is  the  supremely  important  matter,  the 
salvation  of  men  even  in  the  secular  sense,  the 
improvement  of  their  condition  in  this  hfe  is  a 
thing  worth  working  for.  For  this  end  all  may 
worthily  labour,  each  man  in  his  own  sphere 
and  after  his  own  fashion ;  men  of  science,  phy- 
sicians, statesmen,  manufacturers,  ministers  of 
religion.  The  labour  of  so  many  fellow-workers 
cannot  surely  be  in  vain,  and  we  cannot  doubt 
that  it  is  well  pleasing  to  God. 

Yet  while  we  labour  earnestly  for  the  physi- 
cal and  temporal  well-being  of  man,  we  may 
not  forget  that  man  is  a  being  who  belongs  to 
two  worlds.  He  who  bears  this  duly  in  mind 
will  see  in  Christ's  miracles  more  than  a  revela- 
tion of  His  compassion  for  human  suffering,  a 
prophecy  of  better  times,  and  an  example  to  be 
imitated  by  all  lovers  of  their  kind  ;  even  types 
of  higher  miracles  to  be  wrought  in  the  sphere 
of  the  spirit.  Believers  in  the  literal  miracles 
of  the  Gospel  believe  also  in  these  spiritual 
miracles ;  in  the  reality  of  those  recorded  in  the 
pages  of  history,  in  the  possibility  of  similar 
miracles  of  grace  still.  So  believing  they  will 
desire  and  expect  ever  new  manifestations  of 
Christ's  power  to  heal  souls,  doubting  not  His 
willingness,  and  profoundly  conscious  of  the 
world's  urgent  need.  Humbly  hoping  in  Him 
who  Himself  took  our  infirmities  and  bore  our 


144  THE  SYMPATHY  OF  CHRIST. 

sickness,   let  the    Church  while   the    ages    roll 
take  up  her  evening  song  and  pray : 

At  even,  ere  the  sun  was  set,. 

The  sick,  O  Lord,  around  Thee  lay  ; 

O  in  what  divers  pains  they  met ! 
O  with  what  joy  they  went  away  ! 

Once  more  'tis  eventide,  and  we. 

Oppressed  with  various  ills,  draw  near. 

What"  if  Thy  form  we  cannot  see. 

We  know  and  feel  that  Thou  art  here. 

O  Saviour  Christ  our  woes  dispel  : 
For  some  are  sick,  and  some  are  sad, 

And  some  have  never  loved  Thee  well. 
And  some  have  lost  the  love  they  had. 

And  some  are  pressed  with  worldly  care  ; 

And  some  are  tried  with  sinful  doubt  ; 
And  some  such  grievous  passions  tear, 

That  only  Thou  canst  cast  them  out ; 

And  some  have  found  the  world  is  vain, 
Yet  from  the  world  they  break  not  free ; 

And  some  have  friends  that  give  them  pain, 
Yet  have  not  sought  a  friend  in  Thee  : 

And  none,  O  Lord,  have  perfect  rest, 
For  none  are  wholly  free  from  sin  ; 

And  they  who  fain  would  serve  Thee  best 
Are  conscious  most  of  v/rong  within. 


THE  SYMPATHY  OF  CHRIST.  I  45 

O  Saviour  Christ,  Thou  too  art  man, 
Thou  hast  been  troubled,  tempted,  tried  ; 

Thy  kind  but  searching  glance  can  scan 
The  very  wounds  that  shame  would  hide. 

Thy  touch  has  still  its  ancient  power, 
No  word  from  Thee  can  fruitless  fall  ; 

Hear  in  this  solemn  evening  hour, 
And  in  Thy  mercy  heal  us  all.  ■ 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    POWER   OF   FAITH. 

"  I  have  not  found  so  great  faith  no  not  in  Israel." — Matth. 
viii.  lo. 

"  O  woman  great  is  thy  faith." — Matth.  xv.  28. 

"  If  ye  have  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  ye  shall  say 
unto  this  mountain,  remove  hence  to  yonder  place,  and  it  shall 
remove,  and  nothing  shall  be  impossible  nto  you." — Matth. 
xvii.  20. 

"  Thy  faith  hath  saved  thee." — Luke  v  i.  50. 

These  texts,  and  others  of  kindred  import, 
show  what  a  high  place  faith  held  in  the  esteem 
of  Jesus.  Faith  was  in  his  view  a  great  force. 
It  could  work  miracles;  uproot  mountains;  bring 
about  mighty  moral  changes  ;  it  was  a  necessary- 
condition  of  his  own  ability  to  do  miraculous 
works.  Striking  manifestations  of  faith  were  a 
great  source  of  delight  to  Him.  He  remarked 
upon  them  ;  He  praised  them  ;  He  even  went 
so  far  as  to  express  surprise  and  admiration  on 
witnessing  them. 

This  prominence  of  faith  in  the  thoughts  of 
Christ  is  only  what  was  to  be  expected  in  one 
who  preached  a  Gospel  of  grace.  Grace  and 
Faith  are  correlatives.     A  Gospel  of  grace  is  a 


THE  POWER  OF  FAITH.  1 47 

Gospel  which  proclaims  a  God  whose  nature  it 
is  to  give.     The  proper  attitude  of  those  who 
worship  such  a  God  to  the  Object  of  their  wor- 
ship is  that  of  recipiency.     God  bestows  His 
gifts,  we  receive  them  with  thankfulness.     No 
marvel  then'that  Jesus,  the  Herald  of  the  king- 
dom  of  grace,   should   speak    much,   and  with 
emphasis,  of  faith.     It  had  been  otherwise  had 
He  been  a  mere  Preacher  of  moral   law.     His 
favourite  word  then  had  been  not  Faith  but  Re- 
pentance.     This  accordingly  was   the   Baptist's 
motto.     Among  the  numerous  points  of  differ- 
ence between  John   and  Jesus  this  has  to   be 
reckoned   that  the  watchword   of  the  one  was 
Repent,  that  of  the  other  Believe.     The  difference 
corresponded  to  their  diverse  conceptions  of  the 
Divine  character,  the  one  regarding  it  from  the 
point  of  view  of  retributive  righteousness,  the 
other  from  the  point  of  view  of  love.  The  one  said 
"  God  is  holy  and  his  kingdom  is  drawing  nigh, 
prepare  yourselves  for  its  coming  by  reformino- 
your  lives."     The  other  said  "  God  is  good,  and 
He  is  approaching  you  with  blessings   in   His 
hand ;  open  your  hearts  to  receive  His  benefits." 
In  the  teaching  of  our    Lord,    we    find    no 
attempt  at  a  definition  of  faith.     He  used  the 
word  in  a  simple  popular  sense  rooted  in  Old 
Testament  usage,  and  took  for  granted  that  the 
religious   instincts  of  His  hearers    would  help 
them  to  understand  sufficiently  what  He  meant. 


148  THE  POWER  OF  FAITH. 

But  the  import  of  the  term  as  it  occurs  in  the 
Gospels  might  be  expressed  by  the  single  word 
"  receptivity."  An  open  mind  receiving  the  an- 
nouncements of  the  kingdom  as  at  once  true  tid- 
ings and  good  tidings,  credible  and  worthy  of  all 
vacceptation,  such  was  faith  in  the  dialect  of  Jesus. 
As  thus  defined,  faith  appears  a  very  simple 
thing,  not  beyond  the  capacity  of  a  child.  And 
simple  indeed  it  is,  simple  as  the  opening  of 
the  mouth  to  inhale  air,  or  to  receive  food. 
Nevertheless  faith  is  not  a  commonplace  virtue. 
It  is  a  heroic  attainment,  implying  qualities  of 
mind  and  heart  by  no  means  to  be  found  in 
every  man  you  meet.  Faith  of  some  sort  is 
indeed  as  common  as  to  breathe.  In  a  sense, 
all  men,  not  merely  the  just,  live  by  faith  ;  no 
human  being  could  subsist  without  it.  The 
husbandman  sows  in  faith,  counting  on  the 
earth  bringing  forth  of  itself,  first,  the  blade, 
then  the  ear,  then  the  full  corn  in  the  ear.  The 
sailor  steers  by  faith  counting  on  the  compass 
pointing  steadily  to  the  pole.  The  emigrant 
sets  out  on  his  voyage  in  faith,  trusting  to  the 
skill  and  care  of  the  captain  to  bring  him 
through  the  perils  of  the  deep  to  the  far  distant 
port  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean.  In  such 
instances  faith  is  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world, 
comes  to  us  instinctively,  is  without  merit, 
confers  no  distinction ;  the  exercise  of  it  earns 
no  praise,  for  none  but  a  fool  would  act  other- 


THK  POWER  UK  FAITH.  1  49 

wise.  But  it  is  different  with  religious  faith. 
In  the  sphere  of  rehgion  faith  is  exercised  about 
matters  which  appeal  to  the  higher  nature  of 
man,  and  which  it  requires  a  certain  moral 
elevation  to  appreciate.  Here  too  the  things 
about  which  faith  is  conversant  are  out  of  the 
common  course.  We  have  to  do  with  the 
unusual,  the  unexpected,  the  improbable,  the 
apparently  impossible.  The  exercise  of  faith 
on  such  objects  demands  high,  rare  qualities  ; 
power  of  original  thought,  imagination,  freedom 
of  mind  from  the  bondage  of  custom,  audacity 
to  conceive  and  expect  things  out  of  the  beaten 
track.  In  short,  a  believer  in  the  religious 
sense,  to  be  at  all  conspicuous  for  his  faith, 
would  need  to  be  at  once  a  spiritually  minded 
man,  having  his  heart  set  on  lofty  objects,  and 
in  a  sense  a  man  of  genius,  poetic,  romantic,  a 
dreamer  of  dreams,  of  free  untrammelled  spirit, 
not  custom-ridden  in  his  ideas — such  a  man  as 
Abraham  who  by  faith  made  his  life  morally 
and  even  intellectually  sublime.  The  way  of 
faith  is  by  no  means  a  broad  road  trodden  by 
all  travellers,  wise  or  foolish  ;  it  is  an  arduous 
footpath  rising  over  rocky  precipices  to  snowy 
alpine  summits. 

If  the  fact  be  so  the  unreserved  admiration 
of  Jesus  at  signal  manifestations  of  faith  becomes 
intelligible.  And  that  the  fact  is  so  we  can  in 
part  learn  from  the  instances  recorded  in  the 


T50  THE  POWER  OF  FAITH. 

Gospels  ;  those,  especially,  of  the  Roman  cen- 
turion, and  the  Syrophenician  woman. 

In  the  case  of  the  centurion  faith  reveals 
itself  as  a  power  of  conceiving  great  thoughts, 
and  of  dwarfing  into  insignificance  mountains 
of  difficulty.  The  idea  of  this  soldier  is,  that 
just  as  the  hundred  men  under  his  command 
are  at  his  beck  to  come  and  go  and  do  as  he 
pleases,  so  all  the  powers  of  nature  are  ready 
to  do  the  bidding  of  Christ.  This  is  a  sublime 
conception  of  the  power  of  the  Lord,  worthy  to 
be  placed  alongside  the  magnificent  conception 
of  the  divine  government  suggested  by  the 
words  of  the  103d  Psalm  : 

The  Lord  hath  prepared  His  throne  in  the  heavens  ; 
and  His  kingdom  ruleth  over  all.  Bless  the  Lord,  ye 
His  angels,  that  excel  in  strength,  that  do  His  command- 
ments, hearkening  unto  the  voice  of  His  word.  Bless 
ye  the  Lord,  all  ye  His  hosts  ;  ye  ministers  of  His,  that 
do  His  pleasure. 

The  idea  here  is  :  God  sitting  on  a  throne  as 
Ruler  of  the  universe,  surrounded  by  a  host  of 
ministering  spirits  waiting  orders,  who  so  soon 
as  they  have  received  the  word  of  command, 
fly  off  as  on  the  wings  of  the  wind,  or  the  swifter 
beams  of  light,  to  execute  their  commission. 
Much  the  same  was  the  centurion's  thought, 
not  borrowed  from  the  Psalmist,  but  originating 
in  his  own  mind.  What  Jehovah  was  to  David's 
imagination  that  Christ  the  Son  of  man  was  to 


THE  POWER  OF  FAITH.  T  5  I 

the  devout  fancy  of  the  Roman  soldier — even 
the  emperor  of  nature,  generalissimo  of  all 
cosmical  forces,  capable  by  a  word  of  making 
all  the  laws  of  the  universe  and  all  the  elements 
run  his  errands. 

Was  it  not  a  great  original  idea  ?  But  now, 
observe,  it  was  an  idea,  the  credit  of  which  be- 
longed to  the  centurion's  faith.  To  conceive  it 
required  more  than  a  clever  brain,  even  the 
daring  spirit  of  which  faith  alone  is  capable. 
Granting  that  the  analogy  between  Christ's 
power  and  that  of  a  military  commander  might, 
for  a  moment,  suggest  itself  to  any  thoughtful 
mind,  none  but  a  man  of  strong  audacious 
faith  would  have  been  able  to  detain  the  thought, 
and  entertain  it  as  a  reasonable  one,  still  less 
to  utter  it  aloud  as  just  and  true  in  the  hearing 
of  the  world.  A  man  of  weak  faith  would  have 
dismissed  the  idea  as  soon  as  it  entered  his 
mind  as  a  Utopian  dream,  or  at  least  kept  it 
to  himself,  not  venturing  to  utter  it  for  fear  of 
being  laughed  at  as  a  romantic  fool.  But  herein 
lay  the  strength  of  the  centurion's  faith,  that 
he  not  only  could  conceive  the  idea,  and  fami- 
liarise his  own  mind  with  it,  and  get  the  length 
of  venturing  to  utter  it,  but  could  utter  it  as  if 
he  were  saying  nothing  at  all  remarkable,  but 
the  merest  matter  of  course — a  thing  that  might 
occur  to  any  one,  and  which  he  probably  fancied 
everybody  understood  and  believed. 


152  THE  POWER  OF  EAriTI. 

Unbelief  cannot  entertain  such  grand  ideas 
of  divine  power.  Its  thoughts  of  all  things 
divine  are  mean,  tame,  conventional,  custom- 
ridden.  So  far  from  being  able  to  originate 
thoughts  like  that  of  the  centurion,  it  can- 
not even  receive  them,  for  they  are  foolishness 
unto  it. 

The  centurion's  faith  showed  itself,  further, 
as  a  power  of  dwarfing  into  insignificance  moun- 
tains of  difficulty.  It  saw  no  formidable  ob- 
stacle in  the  way  of  the  accomplishment  of  its 
object.  Weak  faith  makes  difficulties,  but 
strong  faith  anniliilates  them.  It  takes  up 
mountains  and  throws  them  into  the  depths 
of  the  sea.  The  Roman  soldier's  faith  looked 
on  the  healing  of  the  sick  slave  as  the  easiest 
thing  in  the  world.  "  Speak  the  word  only  and 
my  servant  shall  be  healed."  Weak  faith  could 
not  speak  in  this  wise.  It  might  say,  "  Lord,  I 
have  heard  that  Thou  hast  a  marvellous  power 
of  healing,  and  I  have  no  doubt  of  Thy  bene- 
volence: Come  and  visit  the  patient,  and  if  pos- 
sible cure  him."  Weak  faith  can  believe  in 
small  miracles,  but  not  in  great  ones.  It  is 
therefore  rationalistic,  always  mixing  up  natural 
and  supernatural  causes,  giving  to  the  former 
as  large  a  place  as  possible,  and  shutting  the 
'latter  into  a  corner,  so  making  miracles  easier 
and  more  credible.  Strong  faith  makes  no  dis- 
tinction between  great  and  small  miracles.     It 


I'lIK  I'UWKR  OF  FAITH.  I  53 

attaches  no  importance  to  neighbourhood,  or 
contact,  or  any  other  natural  means  as  condi- 
tions of  cure.  It  says  not  Hke  the  nobleman  of 
whom  St  John  tells,  "  Sir,  come  down  ere  my 
child  die,"  but  like  this  simple  soldier,  "speak 
the  word  and  my  servant  shall  be  healed." 

Such  faith  is  never  common.  It  was  not 
common  in  Israel,  the  home  of  miracles,  physi- 
cal and  moral.  The  faculty  of  faith  had  nearly 
died  out  among  that  people  in  that  generation. 
It  was  a  stupid  generation,  stupefied  by  custom, 
prejudice,  form,  routine,  pride.  Scarce  any- 
where was  there  a  fresh  eye,  and  a  young  open 
heart,  quick  to  discern  and  to  welcome  a  new 
living  revelation  of  God  and  truth.  They  could 
only  believe  in  old  revelations  respectable  for 
their  antiquity,  and  consecrated  by  tradition. 
Therefore  Jesus  was  very  thankful  to  meet  with 
an  occasional  instance  of  faith,  simple,  pure,  and 
free  enough  to  be  able  to  recognise  in  Himself, 
and  in  His  teaching,  and  in  His  deeds  of  mercy, 
something  divine  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation. 
He  hailed  it  as  the  children  of  Israel  hailed  a 
well  in  the  wilderness,  who,  when  they  found  so 
unlooked  for  a  boon,  in  their  gladness  cele- 
brated the  discovery  with  a  song  saying  : — 

"  Spring  up,  O  well  :  sing  ye  unto  it, 
The  well  which  princes  dug. 
Which  the  nobles  of  the  people  hollowed  out 
With  sceptre  and  with  staves."  * 

*  Numbers  xxi.  18, 


154  I'lIE  POWER  OF  FAITH. 

The  divine  Pilgrim  meeting',  in  his  journey 
through  a  moral  wilderness,  with  a  believing 
soul  like  the  centurion,  was  as  one  who  had 
come  unexpectedly  on  a  spring,  and  at  sight  of 
it  exclaimed  :  Spring  up,  O  well !  welcome  to 
your  crystal  waters  :  Spring  up  in  the  desert  for 
solace  to  the  thirsty  traveller ! 

In  the  woman  of  Canaan  faith  again  revealed 
itself  as  endowed  with  genius,  and  as  a  power 
of  surmounting  difficulty.  The  genius  of  faith 
showed  itself  this  time  not  so  much  as  a  faculty 
of  conceiving  grand  thoughts,  but  rather  as  a 
talent  for  ready  wit.  The  talent  in  either  case 
was  congruous  to  the  nationality  of  the  person. 
Great  serious  thoughts  became  the  Roman, 
ready  wit  the  Syrian.  The  Syrian  woman's 
quick  wit  showed  itself  on  this  wise.  To  the 
harsh  objection,  "It  is  not  meet  to  take  the 
children's  bread  and  to  cast  it  to  dogs,"  she  re- 
plied, True,  Lord,  for  also  the  dogs  eat  of  the 
crumbs  falling  from  the  table  of  their  Master. 
She  accepts  the  position  assigned  to  the  Pagans, 
that  of  dogs,  but  not  of  dogs  without,  of  house- 
hold dogs,  taking  advantage  of  the  diminutive 
form  of  the  term  employed  by  Jesus,  which  was 
commonly  applied  to  domestic  dogs,  and  so 
turning  His  words  against  Himself  "  Dogs — 
so  be  it  then,  let  us  have  the  dogs'  portion  ;  for 
they  have  a  portion,  the  crumbs  that  fall  from 
the  table."     It  was  a  happy  jeit  d'esprit,  indica- 


THE  POWER  OF  FAITH.  155 

tive  of  a  natural  brightness  of  mind,  and  a  vivacity 
of  temper  that  could  assert  themselves  even  in 
the  most  unpropitious  circumstances.  But  it 
was  more.  It  was  a  triumph  of  faith.  Faith 
gave  the  heart  to  utter  if  not  to  conceive  the 
genial  word ;  faith  which  could  see  into  the 
heart  of  the  Stranger,  and  discern  his  goodness 
in  spite  of  rough  words.  But  the  flash  of  inspir- 
ation, not  less  than  the  courage  to  speak  the 
bright  idea,  came  from  faith.  The  woman  could 
never  have  hit  upon  so  happy  an  idea  unless 
she  had  believed  it  possible  for  heaven's  grace 
to  reach  down  to  the  level  of  Gentile  dogs.  But 
for  that  conviction  latent  in  her  soul  she  had 
not  noticed  the  advantage  Jesus  gave  her  in  the 
use  of  the  kindly  diminutive,  which  implied  that 
those  to  whom  the  epithet  referred  had  some 
kind  of  connection  with  the  household.  And  it 
was  no  mean  faith  that  Vv^as  able  to  entertain 
such  a  conviction.  Among  His  own  country- 
men Jesus  was  thankful  to  find  a  faith  that  was 
able  to  believe  in  His  power  to  benefit  even 
those  belonging  to  the  chosen  people.  He 
hardly  looked  for  more  in  a  Jew  than  this 
homeward-bound  faith  in  a  grace  adequate  for 
Israel's  need,  but  available  for  none  beyond. 
But  here,  in  the  coasts  of  Tyre  and  Sidon,  He 
finds  a  faith  of  a  much  wider  sweep.  Here  is  a 
poor  woman  who,  with  sorrow-stricken  heart, 
comes   to    Him    seeking   help  for  her  afflicted 


156  THK  rOWER  OF  FAITH. 

child,  believing  that  He  is  able  and  willing  to 
work  marvellous  cures,  believing  that  He  has 
wrought  many  such  cures  among  His  own 
people ;  but  believing,  moreover,  that  His 
power  and  His  will  to  help  are  not  limited  to 
Judea,  that  there  is  no  reason  why  they  should 
be  so  limited,  that  heaven's  grace  cannot  possibly 
be  thus  hemmed  in  by  geographical  boundaries. 
Here,  in  short,  on  this  Pagan  soil,  is  a  faith  that 
anticipates  Christian  universalism,  and  makes 
bold  to  affirm  the  great  axiom  afterwards  enun- 
ciated by  Paul:  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  Jews 
only,  but  of  the  Gentiles  also.  No  wonder 
Jesus  exclaimed,  O  woman,  great  is  thy  faith. 
Of  this  faith,  even  more  than  of  the  centurion's, 
it  might  truly  be  affirmed  that  the  like  was  not 
to  be  found  in  Israel.  The  quick  wit  was  not 
the  most  remarkable  thing  about  it.  The  really 
remarkable  thing  was  that  which  made  the 
quick  wit  possible,  the  power  to  overturn  parti- 
tion walls,  and  to  level  the  mountain  range  of 
election  which  separated  Jews  from  Gentiles, 
and  so  to  make  a  straight  way  for  the  kingdom 
of  grace  to  enter  with  its  blessings  even  into 
Syrophoenicia.  And  all  this  with  perfect 
humility  while  with  characteristic  audacity. 
"  We  are  unworthy,  we  are  dogs,  we  are  aliens 
from  the  commonwealth  of  Israel,  and  we  have 
no  merit  and  no  claims  :  yet  we  dare  to  believe 
that  Divine  love  can  reach    even  us   poor  un- 


THE  POWER  OF  FAITH.  I  5  7 

clean  Pagans."  This  faith  not  only  levels 
mountains,  but  fills  up  a  deep  valley  of  humili- 
ation, whose  existence  it  frankly  recognises.  It 
performs,  in  short,  all  sorts  of  engineering  feats 
in  the  construction  of  a  world's  highway  of 
grace. 

Christ's  whole  heart  went  forth  in  unaffected 
admiration  of  this  magnificent  display  of  faith 
in  a  most  unexpected  quarter.  Of  course  He 
granted  the  request ;  but  His  ultimate  compli- 
ance was  more  than  an  exceptional  favour  to 
a  Pagan,  in  homage  to  a  most  exceptional 
spiritual  insight.  It  was  a  virtual  proclamation 
of  the  great  truth  that  before  faith  all  barriers 
must  go  down,  that  wherever  there  is  recipiency 
on  man's  part  there  is  communication  of  grace 
on  God's  part,  no  matter  what  the  nationality 
of  the  believing  soul,  even  election  notwith- 
standing. 

Equal  to  His  admiration  of  the  genius  and 
courage  of  faith  was  the  confidence  of  Jesus  in 
faith's  power  to  bring  into  the  soul,  in  all  the 
plenitude  of  moral  influence,  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  He  gave  faith  credit  for  power  to 
triumph  over  the  greatest  moral  hindrances,  to 
bring  peace  into  troubled  hearts  and  consciences, 
and  to  clothe  the  greatest  sinner  in  the  beauty 
of  holiness.  We  learn  this  from  the  story  of 
the  woman  who  entered  the  house  of  Simon. 
To  this  woman  Jesus  said.  Thy  faith  hath  saved 


158  THE  POWER  OF  FAITH. 

thee,  go  into  peace.  The  cheering  word  meant 
much.  The  expression  "  saved "  is  not  to  be 
restricted  to  the  one  blessing  of  forgiveness  of 
sins,  though  that  is  specially  included,  as  it  was 
expressly  mentioned  just  before.  Jesus  meant 
to  say  that  faith  would  do,  had  already  done  in 
principle,  for  the  sinful  woman,  all  that  needed 
to  be  done  in  order  to  a  complete  moral  rescue. 
It  was  as  if  He  had  said,  "You  have  faith,  I  see, 
it  is  all  right  with  you ;  faith  will  do  everything 
for  you,  bring  into  your  heart  the  blessing  of 
forgiveness,  emancipate  you  from  the  bondage 
of  evil  desire  and  habit,  transform  you  from  a 
sinner  into  a  saint ;  go  in  peace  :  you  are  as 
good  as  healed."  Whence  had  He  this  con- 
fidence ?  How  was  He  not  afraid  to  lay  so 
much  stress  on  faith  ?  Why  did  He  dismiss  the 
intruder  without  giving  her  a  bundle  of  moral 
cautions  to  carry  in  her  memory,  as  helps 
against  future  temptations  ?  Partly,  we  fancy, 
because  He  had  more  faith  in  great  principles 
than  in  petty  rules  for  keeping  men  right; 
partly  also,  doubtless,  because  He  was  gener- 
ous, and  wished  to  hope  the  best  for  one  who 
had  made  a  good  beginning  in  a  new  life.  But 
chiefly,  we  apprehend,  because  he  saw  what 
faith  had  done  already.  Had  not  the  reception 
by  her  of  the  good  news  filled  the  soul  of  this 
woman  with  unutterable  love  to  the  Preacher, 
and  to  the  Father  in  heaven,  whose  grace  He 


TlIK  POWER  OF  FAITH.  I  59 

revealed  ;  had  it  not  transformed  her  into  a 
poet,  a  heroine,  a  devotee,  capable  of  setting 
conventionalism  at  defiance  in  ardent  demon- 
strations of  penitence  and  gratitude  ?  Here, 
before  the  eyes  of  all,  was  a  new  spiritual  crea- 
tion, all  due  to  faith,  producing,  through  the 
nature  of  the  thing  believed  in,  and  its  priceless 
value  to  the  recipient,  intense  love,  which,  by 
deeds  more  eloquent  than  words,  says,  "  O  Lord, 
truly  I  am  thy  servant :  I  am  thy  servant  1 
Thou  hast  loosed  my  bonds."  Well  might 
Jesus  say,  "  Thy  faith  hath  saved  thee,"  for  no 
more  complete  demonstration  of  the  restorative 
power  of  that  faculty  by  which  we  let  the  Divine 
grace  flow  into  our  hearts  can  be  desired.  True, 
it  was  only  a  beginning.  The  good  resolutions 
of  the  hour  had  to  be  persevered  in  through  a 
life  of  virtue,  and  that,  experience  tells  us,  is  no 
easy  matter.  Excitement  cools,  enthusiasm 
dies  out,  evil  thoughts  return,  temptations  pre- 
sent themselves,  and  relapses  are  probable.  Yet 
it  is  a  great  thing  to  begin,  to  go  through  a 
great  crisis  of  repentance,  an  agony  of  godly 
sorrow,  to  look  one's  sin  straight  in  the  face, 
to  call  it  by  its  true  name,  to  say,  "  By  the  help 
of  God  I  will  bid  farewell  to  these  evil  courses." 
It  is  also  a  great  thing  to  have  taken,  once  for 
all,  into  the  mind  the  cheering  creed  that  God 
is  a  Being  who  helps  those  who  desire  to  do 
well ;  that  the  Divine  Spirit  sympathises  with 


l6o  THE  POWER  OF  FAITH. 

them  in  their  struggles,  makes  intercession  for 
them  in  their  weakness,  Hfts  them  up  when  they 
fall,  and,  holding  them  by  the  hand,  leads  them 
on  to  the  land  of  uprightness. 

Faith  can  do  yet  more  than  this — more  than 
make  a  beginning  in  the  new  life,  and  cling  on 
to  God  for  help  to  persevere.  It  opens  the  soul 
to  healing  influences  of  all  sorts,  stealing  in  from 
every  quarter,  not  in  themselves  gracious,  but 
serving  the  purposes  of  grace,  coadjutors  of  the 
gospel,  fellow-workers  with  God.  If,  as  there  is 
reason  to  believe,  the  woman  that  had  been  a 
sinner  became  after  the  memorable  scene  in 
Simon's  house,  a  member  of  the  company  that 
followed  Jesus  in  His  wanderings,  what  sooth- 
ing, peace-giving  influences,  what  helps  to  godly 
living  were  within  her  reach !  The  beneficent 
occupation  of  ministering  to  her  benefactor,  the 
virtuous  attachments  springing  up  between  the 
persons  who  constituted  the  society  of  Jesus, 
yea  the  very  sights  and  sounds  of  nature,  would 
be  as  ministering  spirits  confirming  the  broken 
and  contrite  heart  in  peace  and  purity.  When 
the  heart  is  tender  it  is  very  impressionable, 
and  it  receives  impressions  through  every  sense 
of  the  body,  and  every  faculty  of  the  soul.  The 
birds  sing  to  it  songs  of  gladness,  the  winds 
sighing  amid  the  pines  sympathise  with  and 
console  its  sadness,  the  murmur  of  the  brook 


THE  POWER  OE  EAITII.  l6l 

charms  away  bitter  thoughts  like  the  prattle  of 
childhood  ;  the  delicate  odour  of  wild  flowers 
awakens  in  some  mysterious  way  old  memories 
of  happier  days,  which  open  afresh  the  heart's 
wounds  yet  heal  them.  Are  these  not  all 
ministering  spirits,  aids  to,  extensions  of  the 
Gospel,  a  gospel  in  nature  conspiring  with  the 
written  gospel  to  complete  the  soul's  cure  ? 
Yes,  and  so  are  the  outgoings  of  affection  in 
social  life,  and  all  opportunities  of  converse  with 
the  thoughts  of  the  wise  and  the  gifted  through 
the  spoken  word  or  the  written  page,  setting 
before  us  the  true,  the  honourable,  the  pure,  the 
lovely.  These  are  all  accessible  to  faith,  and 
only  to  faith.  For  faith  we  have  seen  signifies 
receptivity,  and  without  receptivity  no  healing, 
soothing,  sanctifying,  influence  can  come  to  us 
from  nature,  from  society,  from  literature,  or 
from  Christ.  Rut  where  receptivity  is  there  all 
things  work  together  for  good.  And  for  the 
comfort  of  those  whose  lives  have  been  made 
tragic  by  sin,  and  by  physical  disease  and 
mental  gloom,  its  too  frequent  accompani- 
ments, let  it  be  said  that  the  heart  that  has  been 
broken  by  contrition,  and  pain,  and  despond- 
ency, is  the  heart  in  which  delicate  sensibility 
and  receptivity  to  all  beneficent  influence  is 
likely  to  reach  its  maximum.  "  Blessed  are  they 
that  mourn  for  they  shall  be  comforted."  Moral 
mediocrities  like  Simon,  and  the  elder  brother 
L 


I  62  THE  POWER  OF  FAITH. 

in  the  Parable,  are  "  saved  "  from  many  risks 
and  sorrows  by  their  virtues  ;  it  is  the  waifs  and 
outcasts,  the  children  of  passion,  who  in  all 
senses  are  saved  hy  faitli. 

With  these  thoughts  of  Jesus  concerning 
faith's  power  we  all  sympathise.  As  Protestants 
we  assign  to  faith  a  prominent  place  and  vital 
function  in  our  creed.  But  it  suffices  not  to 
have  a  sound  doctrine  of  faith.  We  must  have 
faith  itself  The  two  things  do  not  necessarily 
go  together.  In  spite  of  our  orthodoxy  on  the 
subject  of  faith's  function,  it  may  be  a  thing  we 
much  lack.  In  that  case  we  render  very  bad 
service  to  our  creed  ;  do  what  we  can  to  bring 
it  into  disrepute,  and  to  make  men  become 
disciples  of  the  Baptist  rather  than  of  Jesus. 
How  little  we  know  of  the  power  of  faith  ! 
What  a  blessing  to  the  church  were  a  faith  like 
that  eulogised  by  Christ !  It  would  open  our 
heart  to  the  love  of  God  and  fill  us  with  joy; 
it  would  emancipate  us  from  the  power  of  evil; 
it  would  deliver  us  from  idolatry  of  the  past 
and  make  us  hopeful  of  the  future  ;  it  would 
purify  our  motives  from  the  taint  of  worldly 
wisdom  ;  it  would  make  us  creative  in  thought, 
large  in  sympathy,  saintly  in  character,  heroic 
in  conduct.  Lord  increase  our  faith,  and  make 
us  acquainted  with  its  power  in  all  spheres  of 
life! 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  VICARIOUS  VIRTUE  OF  FAITH. 

"Jesus  seeing  their  faith  said  unto  the  sick  of  the  palsy;  son, 
be  of  good  cheer;  thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee." — Matt. 
ix.  2. 

There  are  many  points  of  interest  connected 
with  the  Gospel  story  of  the  healing  of  the 
palsied  man.  There  is  the  method  adopted  by 
the  friends  of  the  sufferer  to  gain  access  to  Jesus, 
made  difficult  by  the  crowd  surrounding  the 
house  (not  alluded  to  by  Matthew)  ;  the  com- 
bination of  the  forgiveness  of  sin  with  the  cure 
of  the  physical  malady ;  the  offence  taken  by 
scribes  present,  at  the  assumption  of  authority 
to  forgive  sin  ;  and  the  spirited  reply  of  Jesus 
to  His  critics.  But  the  most  striking  feature  is 
one  not  named,  and  seldom  referred  to  in  ex- 
positions of  the  narrative,  or  referred  to  only  to 
be  explained  away.  It  is  that  Jesus  was  moved 
to  heal  the  sick  man  by  a  regard  to  the  faith  of 
his  friends,  displayed  in  their  energetic  efforts 
to  obtain  access  to  His  presence.  "  Jesus  seeing 
their  faith  said  unto  the  sick  of  the  palsy;  son, 
be  of  good  cheer."   The  "their"  evidently  refers 


164       THE  VICARIOUS  VIRTUE  OF  FAITH. 

to  the  friends,  as  distinct  from  the  sick  man. 
To  make  the  pronoun  inckide  him  and  to  say, 
with  a  well  known  writer  on  the  miracles,  "  the 
sick  man  was  approving  all  which  they  did,  or 
J  it  would  not  have  been  done,"  *  is  simply  to 
subject  exegesis  to  the  tyrannous  control  of 
dogmatic  prejudice.  It  is  also  to  go  against  the 
natural  probabilities  of  the  case.  The  nature 
of  the  disease  of  itself  excludes  the  supposition 
that  faith  was  in  active  exercise  in  the  person 
of  the  sufferer.  It  was  a  case  of  palsy.  Mind 
and  body  were  both  alike  paralysed.  The  poor 
victim  was  passive  in  the  whole  process,  from 
the  formation  of  the  purpose  to  bring  him  into 
Christ's  presence  to  the  moment  when  the  word 
was  spoken  which  issued  in  a  cure.  He  could 
neither  think  nor  act,  neither  form  a  plan  nor 
carry  it  into  execution,  he  could  hardly  even  so 
much  as  entertain  a  wish.  He  lay  a  helpless 
lump  of  animated  clay,  living  and  that  was 
all. 

It  was  therefore  by  a  regard  to  the  faith  of 
His  friends  that  Jesus  was' moved  to  bless  this 
man.  And  when  we  say  this,  we  bear  in  mind 
that  the  blessing  included  not  merely  the 
healing  of  disease,  but  the  forgiveness  of  sin. 
Both  benefits  were  conferred  for  the  sake  of  the 
believing  friends.  For  it  is  to  be  observed  that 
the  spiritual  benefit  came  first.  The  soul  was 
*  Archbishop  Trench,  "  Notes  on  the  Miracles," 


THE  VICARIOUS  VIRTUE  OF  EAITII.        I  65 

first  healed.  Only  after  the  forgiveness  of  his 
sin  had  been  announced  to  him  did  Jesus  say- 
to  the  sick  one,  "  Arise  take  up  thy  bed  and  go 
unto  thine  house." 

We  have  here,  therefore,  a  very  emphatic 
recognition  of  the  value  and  power  of  interces- 
sory prayer,  or  if  we  may  so  express  it,  of 
vicarious  faith.  Christ,  God,  we  are  taught, 
hears  prayers  of  believing  men,  offered  up  not 
for  themselves  but  for  others,  for  neighbours, 
friends,  relatives,  palsied  in  soul,  who  do  not 
believe,  and  who  do  not  pray  for  themselves. 
God  has  regard  to  the  faith  of  this  man 
in  His  dealings  with  that  man,  and  does 
good  to  the  one  because  of  the  generous  loving 
interest  which  the  other  takes  in  him.  This  is 
a  truth  which  may  easily  be  abused  ;  it  has, 
we  know,  been  very  grievously  abused.  But 
we  may  not  allow  the  fear  of  abuse  to  deprive 
us  of  the  comfort  contained  in  the  truths  stated. 
We  must  insist  on  its  validity  within  the  proper 
limits.  It  has  its  limits.  No  man  can  be  saved 
in  the  full  sense  of  the  word  by  another  man's 
faith  ;  personal  faith  is,  as  a  rule,  requisite  in 
order  to  salvation.  God  deals  with  men  not 
in  mass  only,  but  also  individually.  Yet,  while 
this  is  true  it  is  also  true  that  intercessory 
prayer  has  a  place  in  the  Divine  method  of 
dealing  with  the  children  of  men.  God  deals 
with   men    not   merely   as    individuals,   but    as 


I  66       THE  VICARIOUS  VIRTUE  OF  FAITH. 

social  beings  grouped  together  in  families,  tribes, 
nations,  and  naturally  drawn  by  the  ties  which 
connect  them,  and  by  the  affections  springing 
out  of  these,  to  take  a  loving  interest  in  one 
another's  temporal  and  spiritual  welfare.  In 
virtue  of  this  truth,  given  on  the  one  hand  in 
any  family  or  brotherhood,  a  member  thereof 
palsied  in  soul  by  scepticism  or  vice,  and  on 
the  other  hand,  the  other  members  of  that 
brotherhood  duly  exercised  in  his  behalf,  we 
may  expect  one  day  to  hear  of  that  palsied  one 
being  delivered  from  his  spiritual  malady,  and 
having  a  new  song  put  into  his  mouth  in  praise 
of  Him  who  forgiveth  iniquity,  and  healeth  our 
diseases,  and  redeemeth  our  lives  from  de- 
struction. 

As  this  is  a  doctrine  which  men  are  slow  to 
receive,  and  still  slower  to  act  on,  it  may  be 
well  to  show  how  thoroughly  rooted  it  is  in 
Holy  Scripture. 

That  God  has  regard  to  the  prayers,  faith, 
and  piety  of  some  men  on  account  of  other  men, 
is  not  doubtfully  taught  in  one  solitary  isolated 
text,  such  as  that  quoted  from  the  gospels.  It 
is  a  principle  which  pervades  the  Bible.  It 
comes  in  very  early,  standing  forth  in  bold 
relief  in  the  history  of  Abraham,  the  father  of 
the  faithful.  Abraham  was  a  magnanimous, 
philanthropic  man,  whose  thoughts  and  affec- 
tions did  not  revolve  in  a  narrow  circle,  with 


THE  VICARIOUS  VIRTUE  OE  EAITII.        167 

self  for  its  centre.     He  took  a  kindly  humane 
interest  in  all  his  neighbours,  even  in  those  with 
whom  he  had  very  little  in  common.     There- 
fore, when  he  learned  that  the  wicked  cities  of 
the    plain    were    about    to    be   destroyed,   he 
immediately  addressed  himself  with  the  utmost 
earnestness  to  the  task  of  intercession  for  their 
preservation.     Nor   were   his    intercessions   un- 
availing.    God  had  respect  unto  them.     Abra- 
ham's   prayers    did    not,    indeed,    prevent    the 
destruction  of  Sodom,  but  they  procured  a  con- 
ditional promise  of  salvation  in  certain  specified 
circumstances.       And    the  conditions  are  very 
instructive,  viewed  in  connection  with  our  present 
subject.     God  promissd  to  spare  the  city  if  there 
were  fifty,  forty,  thirty,  twenty,  ten  righteous  men 
in  it;  Abraham  bidding  down  to  the  last  figure, 
and  no  further,  apparently  from   a  feeling  that 
a  city  in  which  there  were  not  even  ten   good 
men,  good   even  in  the  Pagan   sense   of  being 
virtuous  and  exemplary  in  their  lives,  was  not 
worth  saving.     There  is  thus  a  twofold  recog- 
nition of  the  vicarious  principle  in  this  interest- 
ing  portion    of  the   patriarch's   history,      Gcd 
recognised  the  value  of  intercessory  prayer  in 
listening    to   Abraham    pleading   for    Sodom  ; 
He  also  recognised  the  value  of  vicarious  right- 
eousness in  declaring  Himself  wiUing  to  spare 
Sodom  and  its  sister  cities  of  the  plain  for  the 
sake  of  ten  worthy  men  ;  willing,  so  to   speak, 


I  68       THE  VICARIOUS  VIRTUE  OF  FAITH. 

to  impute  or  reckon  to  the  credit  of  the  unright- 
eous thousands  the  righteousness  of  the  worthy 
te7i. 

The  history  of  this  patriarch  suppHes  yet 
another  illustration  of  the  doctrine.  "Abraham 
had  two  sons,  the  one  by  a  bondwoman,  the 
other  by  a  freewoman."  Isaac,  the  son  of  Sarah, 
was  the  heir  of  the  promise,  the  elect  son,  so  to 
speak.  Ishmael,  the  son  of  Hagar,  was  outside 
the  covenant ;  but  Abraham  loved  Ishmael,  his 
first-born,  though  not  his  heir,  and  his  heart 
yearned  for  the  outcast.  He  could  not  endure 
the  thought  of  his  extrusion  from  the  home  of 
his  childhood.  While  expecting  with  much 
interest  the  birth  of  the  heir  of  the  promise,  yet 
he  did  not  desire  that  the  favoured  one  should 
have  a  monopoly  of  Divine  favour.  Therefore 
he  ejaculated  on  Ishmael's  behalf,  the  short 
but  most  fervent  and  heartfelt  prayer,  "  O 
that  Ishmael  might  live  before  thee !  "*  And 
God  heard  that  prayer  even  for  the  non-elect 
Ishmael,  promising  him  a  place  in  His  "  un- 
covenanted  mercies."  God  said  :  "  Sarah  thy 
wife  shall  bear  a  son  indeed ;  and  thou  shalt 
call  his  name  Isaac  ;  and  I  will  establish  my 
covenant  with  him  for  an  everlasting  covenant, 
and  with  his  seed  after  him.  And  as  for 
Ishmael,  I  have  heard  thee :  Behold,  I  have 
blessed  him,  and   will   make  him  fruitful,  and 

*  Genesis  xvii.  i8. 


THE  VICARIOUS  VIRTUE  OF  FAITH.         I  69 

will  multiply  him  exceedingly,  twelve  princes 
shall  he  beget,  and  I  will  make  him  a  great 
nation."* 

As  we  follow  down  the  stream  of  sacred  his- 
tory, we  meet  with  numerous  other  instances  of 
prevailing   intercessory  prayer.      There   is  the 
notable  instance  of  Moses  praying  God  to  for- 
give the  sin  of  idolatry  committed    by  Israel 
at  the  foot  of  Mount   Sinai.     "  Oh,"  said  the 
noble-hearted  leader  of  the  chosen  race,  "  this 
people  have  sinned  a  great  sin,  and  have  made 
them  gods  of  gold.     Yet,  now,  if  Thou  wilt  for- 
give their  sin— and  if  not  (mark  the  character- 
istic   self-devotion   of  the   patriot:    he    hardly 
dares  to  finish  his  prayer,  but  he  dares  to  wish 
himself  accursed   for  his  brethren's  sake !),  and 
if  not  blot  me,  I   pray  Thee,  out  of  Thy  book 
which  Thou  hast  written."  What  now  was  God's 
reply  .?     This  :  "  whosoever  hath  sinned  against 
me,  him  will  I   blot  out  of  my  book."     This 
first,    indicating    the   limits  within   which    the 
vicarious  principle  is  confined.     God   will   not 
damn   one  man  for  the  sake  of  another;  nor 
will   He  save  a  man    from  damnation  for  the 
goodness  of  another,  while  the  man  continues 
in  mortal  sin— no,  not  though  that  other  good 
one  should  be  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.     But  then 
it  is  added,  "  therefore  now,  go,  lead  the  people 
unto  the  place  whereof  I  have  spoken  unto  thee  ; 

*  Genesis  xvii.  19,  20. 


170       THE  VICARIOUS  VIRTUK  OF  FAITH. 

behold  mine  angel  shall  go  before  thee."* 
Israel  is  not  to  be  destroyed  after  all  ;  she  is 
to  be  led  into  the  promised  land  though  she 
has  made  herself  an  object  of  disgust  to  the 
Divine  mind,  by  her  stupid,  thoughtless  be- 
haviour, she  is  to  be  borne  with  for  Moses' 
sake.  She  is  forgiven  out  of  regard  to  his 
intercessions,  and  his  self-effacing  patriotism. 

Further  multiplication  of  examples  is  un- 
necessary. We  may  simply  allude  to  the  stress 
laid  on  the  mere  memory  of  David  at  critical 
times  in  Israel's  history.  When  Sennacherib's 
army  lay  around  Jerusalem  besieging  it,  God 
wrought  deliverance  for  Israel  partly  out  of 
regard  to  the  prayer  of  the  devout  Hezekiah, 
but  partly  also  out  of  respect  for  the  pious 
memory  of  David  the  hero-king,  the  man  after 
God's  own  heart.  The  message  sent  through 
Isaiah  to  the  king  concluded  thus  :  "Therefore 
thus  saith  Jehovah  concerning  the  king  of  Assy- 
ria :  he  shall  not  come  into  this  city,  nor  shoot  an 
arrow  there,  nor  come  before  it  with  shields,  nor 
cast  a  bank  against  it.  By  the  way  that  he 
came,  by  the  same  shall  he  return,  and  shall 
not  come  into  this  land,  saith  Jehovah.  For  I 
will  defend  this  city  to  save  it,  for  mine  own 
sake,  and  for  my  servant  David's  sake."-f- 
What  a  respect  is  shown  to  David's  name  by 
its  being  thus  put  on  a  level  with  God  !  Mine 
own  sake,  and  David's  sake. 

*  Exodus  xxxii.  30-34.  t  2  Kings  xix.  32. 


TIIK  VICARIOUS  \IRTUK  OF  lAITlI.        171 

The  doctrine  we  teach  is  thus  unquestionably 
Scriptural.  It  is,  moreover,  reasonable.  It  can 
give  a  good  account  of  itself  before  the  bar  of 
philosophy.  It  is  a  wise,  God-worthy  policy 
which  encourages  men  to  pray,  live,  and  even 
die  for  one  another,  by  the  assurance  that  they 
pray  not,  live  not,  die  not  in  vain.  If  it  is 
desired  that  men  should  take  a  generous  inte- 
rest in  each  other,  this  is  the  way  to  get  them 
to  do  it.  Tell  men  that  there  is  no  use  in  pray- 
ing for  others,  and  sanctifying  themselves  for 
others,  that  every  man  must  pray  for  himself, 
and  be  holy  for  himself,  that  no  man  can  by 
prayer  or  holy  living  do  his  brother  any  good  ; 
then,  of  course,  men  will  cease  praying  for 
others  or  troubling  themselves  in  any  way 
about  their  fellow-creatures.  For  who  would 
pray  for  praying  sake,  or  vex  one's  soul  about 
things  which  he  cannot  help  1  And  what  sort  of 
world  would  this  be  were  there  no  praying  men 
in  it ;  no  Abrahams  interceding  for  Sodoms  ; 
no  Moses-like  men  ready  to  have  their  names 
erased  from  the  book  of  life  rather  than  that 
their  country  should  perish  ;  no  Pauls  who  could 
wish  themselves  accursed  from  Christ  for  their 
brethren  and  kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh ; 
no  Christ-like  men  bearing  the  sin  and  misery 
of  their  fellow-men  as  a  burden  on  their  hearts  .-* 
Why,  it  would  be  a  world  given  up  to  univer- 
sal selfishness  ;  heartless  as  well  as  prayerless, 


I  72       THE  VICARIOUS  VIRTUE  OF  FAITH. 

inhumane  as  well   as  godless,  a  sunless  world 
full  of  blind   men    knowing  not  whither  they 
went,  stumbling  against  each  other,  and  knock- 
ing each  other  over  into  the  mire.     Such  the 
world  to  a  large  extent  is,  even  under  the  actual 
moral  order ;  but  bad  as  the  world  is,  it  would 
be  far  worse  were  the  vicarious  principle  to  be 
eliminated   from    the   system    of   the  universe. 
Think  twice  before  you  vote  for  a  decree  to  that 
effect.     He  who  desires  it  knows  not  what  he  is 
doing.    He  desires  the  extinction  of  the  sun  with 
its  blessed  light  and  heat,  the  abrogation  of  the 
royal  law  of  love  exemplified  and  glorified  by  the 
death  of  Jesus  Christ.     For  these  two  laws — the 
law  of  love,  and  the  law  of  vicarious  influence 
which  makes  it  possible,  by  earnest  supplication, 
to  bring  down  blessings  on  the  heads  of  fellow- 
men — stand  and  fall  together.     If  you  wish  to 
rid  your  religious  creed  of  intercessory  prayer 
and  vicarious  self-sacrifice,  and  all  kindred  ideas 
appearing  to  you  antiquated  and  barbarous,  you 
must  understand  that  the  sum  of  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments, Love  God  supremely  and  thy  neigh- 
bour as  thyself,  must  go  after  them.     For  how 
can  a  man   love  God   supremely  who   has  not 
shown  himself  capable  of  a  love  without  stint, 
and  how  can  a  man  love  his  neighbour  as  him- 
self who  never  prays  for  his  neighbour  as  he 
prays  for  himself? 

To   make   the  matter  clear  by  a   particular 


THE  VICARIOUS  VIRTUE  OF  FAITII.         I  73 

case,  look  at  this  scene  from  the  Gospel  history. 
See  these  four  strong  men  carrying  their  palsied 
relative  on  a  couch  into  the  presence  of  the 
great  Physician  ;  determined  not  to  fail  of  their 
purpose,  uncovering  the  roof,  since  no  other 
mode  of  access  is  possible,  and  letting  the  sick 
man  down  to  the  place  where  Jesus  stands 
preaching  to  the  vast  multitude.  It  is  a  pleas- 
ing, heart-stirring  sight.  There  is  nothing 
fairer  to  look  on  in  the  world  than  such  a  dis- 
play of  enthusiastic  generous  interest  in  the 
well-being  of  a  suffering  fellow  creature.  But 
that  scene  would  not  have  occurred  had  the 
law  of  this  universe  been  :  every  man  for  him- 
self, no  man's  faith,  prayer,  or  effort,  available 
for  any  but  himself  For  the  poor  sick  man 
could  not  believe,  could  not  pray,  could  not 
speak,  could  not  even  think  ;  and  in  the  case 
supposed  his  friends  could  not  have  believed, 
prayed,  spoken,  thought,  or  acted  for  him.  And 
in  such  a  world  they  would  not  have  tried  to  do 
so.  The  affections  of  men  living  in  such  a 
world  would  ultimately  become  assimilated  to 
their  surroundings.  The  laws  of  the  universe 
giving  no  encouragement  to  anything  but 
selfishness,  there  would  soon  be  nothing  but 
selfishness  in  it.  And  so  the  friends  would 
have  left  the  sick  man  to  his  fate,  and  minded 
their  own  business. 

Such  being  the  outcome  of  a  system  in  which 


1  74       THE  VICARIOUS  VIRTUE  OF  FAITH. 

the  vicarious  principle  has  no  place,  every  man 
who  desires  to  see  the  world  full  of  loving 
hearts  and  kind  deeds  will  be  in  favour  of  the 
great  law  which  makes  it  possible  for  men  in 
many  ways  to  bear  each  other's  burdens.  Let 
us  thoroughly  believe  in  that  law,  and  in  all 
truths  in  sympathy  with  it.  Let  us  believe  that 
God  has  a  gracious  regard  to  the  world  for 
Christ's  sake  ;  that  He  hears  prayers  of  saints 
for  sinners,  of  Abrahams  for  Sodoms,  of  devout 
parents  for  thoughtless  disobedient  children  ; 
that  He  has  a  tender  feeling  towards  an  un- 
worthy people  for  the  sake  of  one  eminently  good 
man  ;  that  Israel  is  still  beloved  for  the  father's 
sakes,  that  Scotland  in  spite  of  degeneracy  is 
dear  for  the  martyrs'  sakes,  that  there  is  hope 
for  Africa  because  Livingstone  loved  her  dark- 
visaged  children  and  spent  his  strength  and  his 
life  in  her  unexplored  wildernesses.  We  must  not 
fight  shy  of  these  ideas  because  the  adoption  of 
them  may  appear  to  bring  us  into  too  close 
contact  with  the  creed  of  Rome.  We  must 
remember  that  there  is  an  evil  to  be  dreaded  in 
an  opposite  quarter,  viz.,  too  close  contiguity  to 
Socinianism.  In  the  Socinian  creed  the  one 
grand  law  of  the  moral  world  is  individual 
responsibility.  That  is  certainly  a  very  great 
law,  but  it  does  not  stand  alone.  The  moral 
world,  like  the  material,  is  upheld  in  a  state  of 
stable  equilibrium  by  the  combind  action  of  two 


THE  VICARIOUS  VIRTUE  OF  FAITH.        1/5 

laws.  As  the  planets  are  kept  in  their  orbits 
by  the  balanced  counteraction  of  the  centripetal 
and  centrifugal  forces,  so  the  moral  universe  is 
maintained  in  harmony  and  settled  order  by 
the  complementary  action  of  the  two  great  laws 
of  vicarious  love  and  personal  responsibility, 
stated  by  the  Apostle  Paul  in  these  simple 
terms  :  "  Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens,"  that 
being  the  law  of  love  :  "  Let  every  man  prove 
his  own  work,"  that  being  the  law  of  individual 
responsibility.* 

If  this  doctrine  be,  as  we  have  seen,  in  accord- 
ance both  with  scripture  and  sound  philosophy, 
then  there  springs  out  of  it  a  manifest  practical 
duty  for  all  Christians.  The  duty  is,  without 
ceasing,  to  desire  and  to  pray  for  the  health, 
specially  the  spiritual  health,  of  all  men,  and 
more  particularly  of  those  who  are  near  to  us 
by  social  ties,  the  care  of  whom  Providence 
most  obviously  lays  upon  us. 

Intercessory  prayer  and  loving  effort  of  every 
description,  need  nev^er  cease  among  us  for 
want  of  appropriate  objects.  There  is  no  lack 
of  palsied  souls  in  every  neighbourhood.  There 
are  multitudes  whose  spiritual  powers,  yea, 
even  whose  physical  powers,  have  been,  or  are 
in  course  of  being,  destroyed  by  vicious  habits. 
Who  does  not  know  of  instances  of  this  kind  .-' 
Let  each  of  us  assist  in  bringing  such  sick  souls 

*  Gal.  vi.  2-4. 


1/6       THE  VICARIOUS  VIRTUE  OF  FAITH. 

under  the  notice  of  the  Divine  Physician. 
There  are  also  many  correct  enough  in  moral 
habit,  who  are  palsied  in  mind  by  the  epidemic 
malady  of  doubt,  hovering,  hesitating,  with 
pitiable  impotence  of  will,  between  faith  and 
infidelity,  Christianity  and  atheism.  These 
also  we  ought  to  bring  to  Christ's  presence, 
begging  Him  to  give  them  a  simple  faith,  and 
a  reinvigorated  will,  that  they  may  accept  his 
gospel,  and  serve  God  with  undivided  mind 
and  heart. 

Wherever  there  is  such  earnest  loving  interest 
taken,  there  miracles  of  healing  will  be  wrought. 
Christ  will  say  now  as  of  old  :  "  Son,  be  of  good 
cheer,  thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee.  Arise,  take  up 
thy  bed,  and  go  into  thine  house."  Augustine 
likens  his  mother's  praying  for  his  conversion, 
during  the  years  of  his  unbelief,  to  a  widow  of 
Nain  carrying  her  dead  son  on  the  bier  of 
thought,  till  Jesus  should  pass  by  and  say, 
"Young  man  arise."  Mothers,  Christian  friends, 
do  not  this  in  vain.  Jesus  does  pass  by ; 
He  did  in  the  case  of  Augustine,  uttering  the 
word  of  power.  If  all  were  known,  it  would 
probably  be  found,  that  when  palsied  souls  are 
healed,  devout  souls  have  been  bearing  them 
on  their  spirit  at  the  throne  of  mercy.  The 
great  Physician  goes  not  only  when  He  is 
needed,  but  when  He  is  desired.  There  are 
places  to  which   He  does  not  go,  because  the 


THE  VICARIOUS  VIRTUE  OF  FAITH.        I  77 

people  are  whole-hearted  and  think  they  need 
not  a  physician.  There  are  likewise  places 
where  there  are  plenty  of  sick  souls,  but  few 
who  shew  their  faith  and  love  by  praying  for 
their  salvation;  where,  therefore,  Jesus  does  not 
many  mighty  works  because  of  prevalent  un- 
belief. But  shew  us  a  place  where  sick  souls 
and  praying  hearts  coexist  in  great  numbers, 
where  the  need  of  the  sinful  is  sore  and  the  desire 
of  the  good  for  their  health  is  most  fervent,  and  we 
can  tell  you  where  there  are  likely  to  be  the  largest 
number  of  men  carrying  their  sick  beds  on  their 
shoulders.  Clamant  need  and  fervent  prayer 
combined  attract  Divine  influence,  as  mountains 
attract  the  clouds,  or  lightning-rods  the  electric 
fire.  Put  a  thousand  Abrahams  into  a  Sodom, 
and  the  chances  are  that  instead  of  being  de- 
stroyed by  fire  from  heaven  it  will  be  converted 
into  something  like  a  city  of  God.  If  a  com- 
munity be  bad,  and  there  be  in  it  very  few  men 
even  professing  piety,  and  these  few,  like  Lot, 
very  indiff"erent  in  the  quality  of  their  piety,  the 
prospects  may  be  gloomy  enough.  But  no  fear 
of  a  community  that  has  in  it  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  Abrahams,  believing,  praying,  spiritually- 
minded  men  ;  not  mere  religious  busy-bodies 
making  much  fuss  and  noise  with  little  out- 
come, but  veritable  men  of  God,  beyond  doubt 
more  concerned  for  the  kingdom  of  God  than 
M 


178       THE  VICARIOUS  VIRTUE  OF  FAITH. 

for  aught  else.  In  that  community  may  be 
many  sick  of  the  palsy,  but  "the  prayer  of 
faith  shall  save  the  sick,"  and  they  shall  be 
healed. 

This  doctrine  of  the  vicarious  power  of  faith 
is   a   most   welcome   feature   of    the    Galilean 

<  gospel.  It  puts  it  in  the  power  of  every  man 
to  be  a  little  Christ,  filling  up  that  which  is 
lacking  of  the  afflictions  of  Christ  for  His  body's 
sake.  If  only  those  who  bear  the  Christian 
name  could  but  realise  the  dignity  of  their 
heroic  vocation,  and  avail  themselves  to  the  full 
of  their  opportunity.  Richard  Baxter  in  his 
old  age,  looking  back  on  a  protracted  and  most 
varied  experience,  expressed  his  profound  sense 
of  "  the  radical,  universal,  odious  sin  of  selfish- 
ness, and  of  the  excellency  and  necessity  of 
self-denial,  and  of  a  public  mind,  and  of  loving 
our  neighbour  as  ourselves."  To-day,  in  the 
nineteenth  century,  as  in  the  seventeenth,  "a 
public  mind"  is  the  great  need  of  the  Church 
and  of  society.  We  need  to  have  Christ-like 
intercessors,  and  helpers,  and  burden-bearers 
indefinitely  multiplied.  Let  us  pray  for  it. 
Let  each  man  pray  for  himself: 

Lord,  speak  to  me,  that  I  may  speak 

In  living  echoes  of  Thy  tone  ; 
As  Thou  hast  sought,  so  let  me  seek 

Thy  erring  children  lost  and  lone. 


THE  VICARIOUS  VIRTUE  OF  FAITH.       I  "9 

O  lead  me,  Lord,  that  I  may  lead 

The  wandering  and  the  wavering  feet ; 

O  feed  me,  Lord,  that  I  may  feed 
Thy  hungering  ones  with  manna  sweet. 

0  strengthen  me,  that,  while  I  stand 
Firm  on  the  rock,  and  strong  in  Thee, 

1  may  stretch  out  a  loving  hand 

To  wrestlers  with  the  troubled  sea. 


CHAPTER    XL 

CHRIST   THE   GREAT   INNOVATOR. 

"  No  man  putteth  a  piece  of  new  cloth  unto  an  old  garment." 
—Matt.  ix.  i6. 
"Neither  do  men  put  new  wine  into  old  bottles.'' — Matt.  ix.  17. 
"This  cup  is  the  New  Testament  in  my  blood." — LuKExxii.20. 

Christianity  a  new  thing,  an  innovation,  a 
breach  in  the  continuity  of  reh'gious  tradition — 
such  is  the  burden  of  these  texts.  In  the  last 
the  thought  is  expressly  enunciated ;  in  the 
other  two  it  is  plainly  implied.  For  as  in  the 
saying,  "  The  whole  need  not  a  physician  but 
they  that  are  sick,"  the  point  lies  in  the 
suggestion  that  the  speaker  is  a  physician,  so 
in  these  sayings  the  appositeness  fully  appears 
only  when  it  is  understood  that  the  speaker 
means  to  claim  for  the  cause  with  which  he  is 
identified  that  it  is  a  new  thing.  The  gospel 
He  preaches  is  the  new  piece  of  cloth  that  must 
not  be  put  on  an  old  garment,  the  new  wine 
that  may  not  be  put  into  old  skins. 

Very  noticeable  is  the  boldness  with  which 
the  novelty  of  Christianity  is  asserted  in  these 
parabolic  sayings.     Most  innovators   strive  to 


I 


CHRIST  THE  GREAT  INNOVATOR.        l8l 

hide  the  novel  character  of  the  movement  with 
which  they  are  identified.    In  not  a  few  instances 
it  is  hid  in  part  even  from  themselves.     They 
are  the  half  unconscious  instruments  of  a  spirit 
which  cunningly  conceals  its  tendency  from  its 
mouth-pieces,  that  they  may  the  more  willingly     , 
serve  it.     But  even  when   not  themselves   de-     [/ 
ceived,  innovators  are  apt  to  play  the  part  of 
dissemblers,  hiding  or  extenuating  the  newness 
of  their  cause,   striving  to   make  it  appear  as 
like  as  possible  to  something  already  established, 
with  a  view  to  obviate  opposition,  or  conciliate 
prejudice.     Jesus  was  exempt  from  both  these 
infirmities.    He  had  on  the  one  hand  a  perfectly 
clear  understanding  of  the  bearings  and  signi- 
ficance  of  His  work.     He  was  fully  conscious 
that  that  work  was  new,  and  how  far  and  in 
what  respects  it  was  new  was  not  hidden  from 
Him.     On  the  other  hand  He  frankly  admitted 
and   broadly  asserted    the  novelty.      His   was 
not  the  timid,  apologetic,  half-hearted,  prudential 
tone  so  common  among  those  who  have  some- 
thing fresh  to  tell  the  world.     He  would  not 
degrade   the  piece  of  new  cloth  into  a  mere 
patch  on  a  worn-out  garment,  or  conceal  the 
new  wine  in  old  skins  that  men  might  be  led 
to  believe  that   it  also  was  old.     He  had  the 
courage  of  his  convictions ;   freedom   of  spirit 
equal  to  His  insight.     He  knew  what  He  was 
about,  and  what  He  knew  He  would  tell,  and 


1 82        CHRIST  THE  GREAT  INNOVATOR. 

what  He  said  in  word  He  would  give  effect  to 
in  deed  ;  daring  to  carry  out  systematically  in 
conduct  the  principles  of  His  religion,  not  con- 
tent with  enouncing  a  barren  theory. 

It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  for  the  interests 
of  genuine  evangelic  piety  that  these  facts  should 
be  well  laid  to  heart.  Let  us  therefore  linger 
over  them  a  little,  considering,  first,  the  fact  that 
the  Galilean  gospel  was  a  great  innovation,  and, 
secondly,  the  bold  free  spirit  of  the  Divine 
Innovator. 

I.  In  what  respect  was  the  gospel  of  Jesus 
new  ?  In  several  respects,  and  chiefly  in  these 
following : — 

I.  In  its  idea  of  God.  Jesus  was  the  first  to 
teach  effectively  the  FatJierhood  of  God.  The 
paternal  conception  of  the  divine  character  is 
not  wanting  in  the  Old  Testament.  But  it  does 
not  occupy  a  dominant  place  there.  The  lead- 
ing idea  is  that  of  a  Ruler.  God  is  the  Righteous 
Governor,  high  and  holy  ;  men  are  His  subjects 
dwelling  far  beneath  Him  on  the  earth  His 
footstool,  and  trembling  before  His  majesty. 
Such  was  the  idea  of  the  Divine  Being,  fostered 
by  the  legal  economy  which  came  in  and  ob- 
scured the  grace  of  the  promise  made  to  the 
Fathers,  as  St  Paul  teaches.  But  Jesus  came, 
and  a  great  theological  revolution  took  place. 
The  legal  conception  of  God  fell  into  desuetude, 
and  a  brighter  view  came  to  the  front.     The 


CHRIST  THE  GREAT  INNOVATOR.        I  83 

Lawgiver  made  way  for  the  God  of  grace,  the 
Judge  for  the  Divine  Father.  God  did  not 
cease  to  be  high  and  holy,  but  He  became  con- 
spicuously, what  He  had  ever  been  in  reality, 
humble  and  good  ;  near  as  well  as  far  off, 
familiar  as  well  as  majestic,  benignant  not  less 
than  holy,  loving  the  sinful  while  having  no 
part  :n  sin.  Broadly  put  the  difference  was 
this.  The  old  traditional  God  of  Jewish  the- 
ology and  worship  was  an  Exactor,  the  new 
God  of  Jesus  was  a  Giver.  The  one  demanded 
obedience,  the  other  conferred  gifts  even  on 
the  rebellious,  seeking  to  overcome  evil  with 
good,  and  by  His  free  unmerited  favour 
turn  the  disobedient  to  the  obedience  of  the 
just. 

2.  Along  with  the  new  idea  of  God  came 
naturally  a  new  conception  of  the  kingdom  of 
God.  The  idea  of  such  a  kingdom  in  general 
was  not  new.  It  was  an  idea  familiar  to  the 
Jewish  mind  from  time  immemorial — from  the 
days  of  Moses,  when  Israel  was  first  constituted 
a  nation.  But  Christ's  mode  of  conceiving  the 
kingdom  was  new.  The  change  here  corre- 
sponded to  the  change  in  the  idea  of  God.  The 
old  kingdom  of  God  was  a  kingdom  of  law,  the 
new  kingdom  of  God  was  a  kingdom  of  love. 
The  old  kingdom  was  national,  the  new  was 
spiritual.  Under  the  old  the  unit  was  the  whole 
people  of  Israel,  under  the  new  it  was  the  in- 


184        CHRIST  THE  GREAT  INNOVATOR. 

dividual.  The  kingdom  of  Old  Testament 
times  was  a  righteous  nation,  keeping  God's 
law  and  subject  to  the  rule  of  its  Divine  King. 
The  kingdom  of  New  Testament  times  was 
to  be  found  wherever  there  was  a  renewed  heart 
believing  in  the  Divine  love,  and  yielding  itself 
to  God's  gracious  influence.  The  kingdom  of 
Christ's  preaching  was  within  ;  it  did  not  re- 
quire numbers  for  its  existence,  yet  it  had  room 
for  the  idea  of  multitude ;  for  those  in  whose 
hearts  it  took  up  its  abode  must  needs  form 
themselves  into  a  new  society,  and  so  give  birth 
to  a  new  humanity,  independent  of  nationality, 
capable  of  extension  over  all  the  earth,  having 
wathin  it  the  possibilities  of  a  holy  catholic 
Church  throughout  all  the  world,  worshipping 
the  Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 

The  difference  between  the  old  and  the  new 
at  this  point  came  out  distinctly  in  the  preach- 
ing of  John  the  Baptist  as  compared  with  that 
of  Jesus,  In  John's  conception  of  the  kingdom 
the  ideas  of  law,  righteousness,  judgment  are 
prominent,  and  the  sphere  within  which  these 
principles  have  play  is  the  nation  of  Israel.  In 
Christ's  the  prominent  watchwords  are  grace, 
mercy,  pardon,  and  the  recipients  of  blessing 
are  the  humble,  the  contrite,  the  poor  ;  Jews 
chiefly  at  first,  but  Jews  by  accident ;  for  the 
condition  of  admission  into  the  kingdom  is  not 
circumcision  but  faith.     John  speaks  much  of 


CHRIST  THE  GREAT  INNOVATOR.        1 85 

the  axe  and  the  fan,  of  wrath  and  fire  unquench- 
able ;  Jesus  of  salvation  for  the  lost,  even  for 
the  outcasts  and  pariahs  of  society.  In  all 
these  respects  John  is  the  representative  of  an 
old  era  now  drawing  to  a  close  ;  Jesus  of  a  new 
era  of  grace  now  in  its  dawn. 

3.  These  new  thoughts  of  God  and  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  were  accompanied  by  a  new 
way  of  life,  the  typical   feature  of  which  was 
neglect  of  fasting  then  practised  by  all  religious 
people.     The   society  of  Jesus  fasted  not,  but 
ate  and  drank    like   other  men,   not  affecting 
religious    rigour,   always  of  course  within    the 
limits  of  godly  temperance.     That  divergence 
from  custom  was   full   of  significance  in  refer- 
ence both  to  religion  and  to  morality.     On  the 
religious  side  it  meant  a  conscience  emancipated 
from  legal  scrupulosity  and  superstitious  fear  ; 
and   on   the    ethical    side,   a   heart   filled    with 
humane   sympathy.     The    Son    of   Man    came 
eating  and  drinking  because  He  believed  in  a 
God  of  love  who  could  not  be  acceptably  served 
by  ascetic  austerities,  but   by  thankful   use  of 
His  mercies.     He  came   in  this  wise,   further, 
because  He  had  no  faith  in  fasting  as  a  cure  of 
moral  evil,  but  rather  believed  that  sin  was  to 
be  exorcised  by  love.    Believing  this  He  assimi- 
lated His  manner  of  life  to  that  of  those  whom 
He  sought  to  save,  as  far  as  purity  permitted, 
that  He  might  get  near  to  them,  win  their  con- 


I  86       CHRIST  THE  GREAT  INNOVATOR. 

fidence,  and  so  lay  a  foundation  for  beneficent 
spiritual  influence. 

In  both  respects  the  change  was  a  great 
innovation,  an  epoch-making  revolution.  It 
was  the  substitution  of  a  religion  of  trust  in 
the  place  of  a  religion  of  fear  ;  the  proclama- 
tion of  self-sacrificing  love  as  the  great  redeem- 
ing power,  in  opposition  to  the  solitary  hopeless 
practice  of  mere  self-torture.  And  it  will  be 
apparent  to  all  that  the  new  way  of  life  was  in 
harmony  with  the  new  thoughts  of  God  and  of 
the  kingdom  of  God.  Belief  in  a  God  who  is 
a  Father,  and  in  a  reign  of  grace,  has  for  its 
natural  accompaniments  a  conscience  purged 
from  dead  works  of  legalism  to  serve  the  living 
God  with  thankfulness  and  joy,  and  a  life 
regulated  by  the  supreme  law  of  love.  These 
things  existed  in  perfection  in  Jesus.  His  dis- 
ciples were  not  yet  perfected  in  them.  But 
they  were  under  training  for  these  high  ends. 
Their  Master  in  all  He  did  aimed  at  the 
ultimate  emancipation  of  their  consciences  from 
legal  bondage,  and  the  bringing  of  their  hearts 
into  complete  subjection  to  the  spirit  of  charity. 
It  was  for  this  purpose  He  taught  them  to 
abstain  from  fasting ;  as  also  to  disregard  the 
traditions  of  the  elders  in  reference  to  cere- 
monial washings  and  Rabbinical  rules  for 
Sabbath  observance. 

II.  The  courage  of  Jesus  was  not  less  con- 


CHRIST  THE  GREAT  INNOVATOR.         I  8/ 

spicuous  than  His  originality  in  thought  and 
conduct. 

As  He  believed  so  He  spoke  publicly,  habit- 
ually. All  men  knew  or  might  know  the 
salient  points  of  His  doctrine.  He  spoke  to 
all  of  a  God  who  was  a  Father,  and  of  a 
kingdom  of  grace  open  to  all ;  He  proclaimed 
these  truths  especially  to  those  who  had  most 
need  to  hear  them,  and  were  most  likely  to 
welcome  them,  regardless  of  the  reproach  He 
encountered  by  so  doing.  New  ideas,  especially 
new  religious  or  theological  ideas,  are  often 
cautiously  vented  only  in  the  coterie  or  the 
club,  their  authors  shrinking  from  the  conse- 
quences of  publicity.  Not  thus  did  Jesus  hide 
His  light  under  a  bushel.  He  let  His  light 
shine  so  that  at  the  end  of  His  career  He  could 
make  the  manly  protest :  "  I  spake  openly  to 
the  world  :  I  ever  taught  in  the  synagogue  and 
in  the  temple,  whither  the  Jews  always  resort ; 
and  in  secret  have  I  said  nothing."  * 

Outspoken  in  His  teaching,  Jesus  was  equally 
unreserved  in  action.  There  was  no  attempt 
on  His  part  at  concealment  of  nonconformity 
to  existing  religious  custom.  All  men  knew 
that  He  and  His  disciples  did  not  fast,  or 
practise  ritual  ablutions,  or  comply  with  Rabbin- 
ical notions  as  to  Sabbath  observance.  Such 
departures  from  custom  could  not  well  be  hid  ; 

*  John  xviii.  20. 


/ 


156        CHRIST  THE  GREAT  INNOVATOR. 

but  there  was  no  attempt  at  hiding,  so  that  any 
who  came  into  even  casual  contact  with  the 
Jesus-circle  could  without  the  slightest  difficulty 
become  acquainted  with  its  peculiar  way  of  life. 
Conclusive  evidence  of  this  is  to  be  found  in 
the  frequent  instances  of  ofTence  taken  at  that 
way  recorded  in  the  Gospels,  that  referring  to 
fasting  being  one  of  the  number,  but  only  one 
of  many. 

Resolute  in  working  out  His  principles  in 
conduct,  Jesus  was  fearless  in  defence  of  His 
conduct  when  assailed.  Conciliatory  in  spirit, 
and  patient  in  explanation  with  a  view  to  the 
satisfaction  of  honest  enquirers.  He  never 
apologised  for  censured  actions  as  if  doubtful 
of  their  propriety.  Apology  for  His  conduct 
He  did  frequently  offer,  but  His  apologies 
consisted  not  in  acknowledging  Himself  at 
fault,  but  in  explaining  the  principle  of  His 
action  so  that  the  apparent  grounds  of  offence 
might  be  removed.  When  asked,  Why  do  we 
and  the  Pharisees  fast  oft,  but  Thy  disciples 
fast  not .''  He  did  not  reply :  We  have  been 
a  little  careless  in  this  matter,  but  we  will  be 
more  attentive  in  future,  we  meant  no  harm,  it 
was  only  an  inadvertency;  or,  We  have  not  been 
so  entirely  negligent  of  this  duty  as  ye  suppose  ; 
our  remissness  in  the  cases  which  came  under 
your  notice  was  the  result  of  special  unforeseen 
circumstances,   and   is  not  to  be  taken   as  an 


CHRIST  THE  GREAT  INNOVATOR.        I  89 

indication  of  our  habit  or  intention.  He  ad- 
mitted fully  and  frankly  the  neglect  charged, 
and  proceeded  to  explain  and  vindicate  it, 
calmly,  dispassionately,  and  with  every  desire 
to  conciliate,  but  yet  without  an  atom  of  con- 
cession as  to  the  rectitude  of  the  conduct 
impugned.  "  My  disciples  do  not  fast,  the  fact 
is  as  you  state  it,  they  are  not  in  the  mood  to 
fast,  in  their  present  temper  it  is  impossible  for 
them  to  do  it.  Moreover,  fasting  is  foreign  to 
the  genius  of  the  religion  they  are  learning 
from  Me,  systematised  fasting  that  is  to  say,  for 
occasional  acts  of  fasting  are  not  excluded ;  and 
this  being  so,  it  were  a  folly  to  force  on  them 
an  alien  practice,  for  practice  should  harmonise 
with  the  spirit  of  religion  and  be  the  natural 
outcome  of  it.  When  the  inward  spirit  and  the 
outward  conduct  are  at  variance,  it  is  as  when 
a  piece  of  new  undressed  cloth  is  put  as  a  patch 
on  an  old  garment,  or  new  wine  is  poured  into 
old  skins.  You  know  what  the  results  in  such 
cases  would  be.  They  are  such  that  none  but 
a  fool  would  perpetrate  these  mistakes."  Such 
was  the  apology  of  Jesus  :  clear,  rational,  tem- 
perate, but  firm  and  uncompromising. 

One  who  puts  his  foot  down  so  resolutely  in 
defence  of  departure  from  religious  use  and  wont 
is  not  likely  to  escape  equally  resolute  opposi- 
tion. The  patrons  of  old  ways  in  religion  are 
always  numerous,  and  in  no  other  department 


I  90       CHRIST  THE  GREAT  INNOVx\TOR. 

of  life  is  the  spirit  of  conservatism  so  bitter  and 
relentless.  He  therefore  who  dares  toattempt 
to  introduce  new  thoughts  about  God  and  things 
divine,  or  new  modes  of  giving  outward  expres- 
sion to  the  spiritual  life,  does  so  at  his  peril. 
Jesus  was  fully  aware  of  this  when  He  offered  the 
apology  above  paraphrased  in  defence  of  neglect- 
ing fasting.  He  understood  human  nature,  and 
appreciated  as  no  man  ever  did  before  or  since 
the  blind  force  of  resistance  offered  by  a  super- 
stitious conscience  to  all  attempts  to  rob  it  of  its 
idols.  He  foresaw  the  penalty  He  would  have 
to  pay  as  an  innovator,  "  a  setter  forth  of  strange 
Gods."  Hence  the  pathetic  reference  to  coming 
days  when  His  disciples  would  have  good  cause 
to  fast,  and  would  be  in  the  sad  mood  of  which 
fasting  is  the  fit  expression.  What  a  tragic 
train  of  thought  flashed  with  lightning  swiftness 
through  Christ's  mind  at  that  moment !  "  Fast.-* 
No,  we  do  not  fast,  and  in  many  other  respects 
we  differ  from  you,  first  in  spirit,  and  then,  of 
course,  in  outward  act.  But  I  know  well  that 
we  cannot  thus  differ  from  the  customs  of  the 
time  with  impunity.  At  the  end  of  this  way  of 
nonconformity  I  see  a  cross.  When  I  come  to 
it  my  disciples  will  be  able  to  gratify  you  by 
compliance  with  your  wishes.  You  will  then 
give  them  good  occasion  for  fasting  by  taking 
from  them  their  Beloved,  and  leaving  them  in 
widowhood." 


CHRIST  THE  GREAT  liNfNOVATOR.        I9I 

The  gloomy  foreboding  was  not  a  mistaken 
one.  The  cross  did  come;  the  Bridegroom  was 
taken  from  the  sorrowing  society  of  Jesus.  That 
was  the  price  the  Preacher  of  Galilee  paid  for 
daring  to  make  some  things  new  in  theology  and 
in  religious  life.  But  the  price  was  not  too  high. 
For  that  cross,  thepenalty  of  innovation,  became 
in  turn  a  power  of  immeasurably  increased  inno- 
vation, enabling  Him  who  had  made  some  things 
new  in  His  life  to  make  all  things  new  by  His 
death.  Of  this  truth  also  Jesus  was  aware,  and  He 
proclaimed  it  when  He  said  on  the  eve  of  His 
Passion,  instituting  the  Holy  Supper,  "This  cup 
is  the  new  Tcstamejit  in  my  blood."  A  new 
Testament  or  covenant !  That  is  a  much  more 
extensive  innovation  than  the  small  detail  of 
neglecting  fasting.  It  means  the  suppression  of 
the  Sinaitic  covenant  with  all  that  pertains  to 
it :  its  whole  legislative  system,  its  Levitical 
worship,  its  festivals,  sacrifice,  priesthood.  It 
means  the  introduction  of  a  new  era,  or  aeon,  a 
new  religious  world.  It  means  a  new  humanity 
with  a  new  heart  to  do  God's  will,  a  new  spiritual 
worship  of  God  the  Father  who  seeks  no  offer- 
ings but  contrition  and  thankfulness,  a  new 
sacrifice  of  nobler  name,  in  which  priest  and 
victim  are  one,  available  for  the  perpetual  for- 
giveness of  all  sin.  For  all  these  boons  were 
included  among  the  blessings  of  the  new  covenant 
prophesied  of  by  Jeremiah.*  With  the  new 
*  Jeremiah  xxxi,  31. 


192        CHRIST  THE  GREAT  INNOVATOR. 

covenant  were  to  come  the  law  written  not 
merely  on  tables  of  stone,  but  on  the  heart ;  the 
knowledge  of  God  simplified  so  as  to  be  within 
the  reach  of  all,  even  the  most  illiterate  and  the 
youngest ;  and  the  perpetual  forgiveness  of  the 
gravest  transgressions,  as  contrasted  with  the 
annual  forgiveness  of  the  mere  ignorances  of  the 
people  on  the  great  day  of  atonement.  All 
these  things  did  come  through  the  death  of 
Christ.  Therefore  with  reference  to  the  oracle 
of  the  new  covenant,  as  to  all  other  prophetic 
oracles,  He  might  truly  say  as  He  hung  on  the 
cross,  "  It  is  finished." 

"  'Tis  finished — legal  worship  ends, 
And  gospel  ages  run. 
All  old  things  now  are  past  away, 
And  a  new  world  begun." 

Well  is  it  written  of  Jesus  the  Son  of  God  in 
the  opening  sentences  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  that  by  Him  God  made  the  worlds,  or 
the  aeons.  By  the  Logos  God  made  the  worlds 
of  all  sorts — the  material  worlds,  and  also  the 
ages  of  time.  By  tlim  did  God  especially  make 
the  Christian  world.  All  the  changes  that  have 
come  in  through  the  Christian  religion — who 
can  reckon  them  up  i* — are  due  to  Jesus  of 
Nazareth.  Never  was  there  such  an  innovator. 
Who  has  a  better  right  to  say,  "  Behold  I  make 
all  things  new  "  } 

What  now  is  the  duty  arising  out  of  the  facts 


CHRIST  THE  GREAT  INNOVATOR.         I  93 

we  have  been  considering,  for  those  who  bear 
the  Christian  name  ?  Surely  to  glorify  Christ 
as  the  Maker  of  the  new  world  !  And  how  is 
this  to  be  done?  First,  by  recognising  to  the 
full  extent  the  service  rendered,  by  forming  to 
ourselves  a  broad  comprehensive  idea  of  the 
vast  change  introduced  into  the  world  by  the 
action  of  our  Saviour.  It  is  possible  to  come 
far  short  here.  We  know  what  miserably  in- 
adequate ideas  the  Judaistic  party  in  the  Apos- 
tolic Church  had  of  the  bearing  of  Christianity 
on  existing  institutions.  They  conceived  of 
Christianity  as  simply  a  reformed  Judaism. 
John  the  Baptist  would  have  sufficed  to  bring 
about  all  the  change  they  were  prepared  for. 
Christ  might  as  well  never  have  lived  on  this 
earth.  If  they  had  got  their  way  things  would 
have  remained  as  if  Christ  never  had  lived.  It 
is  melancholy  to  think  what  an  amount  of  effort 
on  the  part  of  Paul  and  others  it  required  to 
prevent  so  fatal  a  result.  How  much  possible 
good  may  be  obstructed  now  by  the  same  spirit 
in  the  church! 

Second,  we  may  glorify  Christ  as  the  maker 
of  the  new  world  by  being  ourselves  children  of 
the  new  era,  appreciating  and  using  to  the  full 
the  liberty  of  a  Christian  man.  This  condition 
though  placed  second  really  comes  first,  for 
only  out  of  an  emancipated  conscience  and 
enlarged  heart  can  large  conceptions  of  the 
N 


194       CHRIST  THE  GREAT  INNOVATOR. 

significance  of  Christianity  spring.  The  man 
who  is  not  free  in  spirit  will  be  a  Judaist  in 
temper,  degrading  the  Christian  religion  into  a 
new  form  of  legalism.  Above  all  things,  there- 
fore, in  order  to  glorify  Christ  the  great  Innova- 
tor, there  is  needed  the  power  to  understand 
the  liberty  of  the  Christian,  the  heart  to  glory 
in  it,  the  will  to  assert  it  at  all  hazards  and 
within  all  spheres.  These  are  not  common- 
place attainments.  There  are  times  when  they 
are  common.  Such  a  time  was  the  epoch  of 
the  Reformation,  when  a  magnificent  tribute 
was  paid  to  Christ  the  maker  of  the  new  world, 
not  by  empty  phrases,  but  by  extensive  innova- 
tions rendered  necessary  by  the  decay  of  the 
Christian  spirit,  amounting  together  to  the 
remodelling  of  the  religious  world.  There  are 
other  times  when  these  attainments  are  very 
rare,  when  the  temper  of  the  church  at  large  is 
legal,  timid,  blindly  conservative,  addicted  to 
the  idolatry  of  old  custom,  superstitiously  afraid 
of  all  things  new.  And  the  most  depressing 
feature  of  such  times  is  that  such  a  temper  may 
often  be  found  combined  with  firm  adherence 
to  evangelic  doctrine.  The  evangelic  creed  is 
divorced  from  the  evangelic  spirit,  and  those  in 
whom  the  divorce  takes  place  imagine  them- 
selves to  h& par  excellence  the  "evangelical  party." 
Antecedent  to  experience  one  would  be  disposed 
to  say  that  such  a  grotesque  phenomenon  was 


CHRIST  THE  GREAT  INNOVATOR.         1 95 

an  impossibility.  But  painful  experience  teaches 
us  the  truth  that  evangelic  piety,  like  everything 
else  with  which  men  have  to  do,  may  undergo 
degeneracy.  An  eminent  theologian,  explain- 
ing the  nature  of  Pharisaism,  remarks,  "  The  real 
virtues  of  one  age  become  the  spurious  ones  of 
the  next.  When,  in  the  progress  of  the  human 
race,  any  new  ground  is  gained,  whether  in 
truth  or  in  morals,  the  original  gainers  of  that 
ground  are  great  moral  minds  ;  they  are  minds 
which  were  penetrated  by  true  perceptions,  and 
by  an  inward  sacred  light,  and  they  fought  with 
the  society  of  their  day  for  the  reception  of  that 
light ;  they  therefore  stand  high  in  the  scale  of 
goodness.  But  it  is  totally  different  when,  the 
new  ground  being  once  made,  a  succeeding 
generation  has  to  use  it.      The  use  of  it  then  is 

no  guarantee  of  moral  rank A  standard 

once  raised  by  the  convulsive  efforts  of  a  fervent 
minority,  a  mass  of  lower  character  is  equal  to 
the  adoption  of  it ;  but  the  originators  of  the 
standard  are  separated  by  an  immeasurable 
interval  from  their  successors."*  If  this  be, 
as  without  doubt  it  is,  a  true  account  of  the 
nature  and  genesis  of  Pharisaism,  then  it  fol- 
lows that  there  can  be  such  a  thing  as  an 
evangelical  Pharisaism,  a  traditional  adoption 
of  the  evangelic  creed  dissociated  from  the 
evangelic   spirit,    and    devoid    of  those  virtues 

*  Mozley's  University  Sermons,  p.  42. 


196        CHRIST  THE  GREAT  INNOVATOR. 

with  which  that  creed  was  combined  in  the 
persons  of  those  to  whom  it  was  not  a  tradition 
but  a  first-hand  intuition.  The  marks  of  this 
spurious  type  of  evangelic  piety  will  be  either 
the  distinctive  vices  of  the  Pharisaic  character, 
arrogance  and  censoriousness,  the  tendency  to 
claim  a  monopoly  of  spiritual  worth  and  to 
depreciate  the  piety  of  all  outside  the  favoured 
circle ;  or,  the  less  blameworthy  infirmities  of 
an  honest  legalism,  like  that  of  John's  disciples 
— ^joylessness,  proneness  to  austerity,  petty 
scrupulosity  which  magnifies  matters  of  indiffer- 
ence into  great  principles,  especially  such  as 
have  been  rendered  venerable  by  old  custom. 
It  is  not  surely  necessary  to  say  that  these 
qualities  are  not  evangelic.  Of  course,  arrogance 
and  censoriousness  are  not.  But  neither  is 
bondage  to  the  past,  and  the  superstitious  dread 
of  change.  The  standard  of  what  is  evangelic 
must  be  sought  in  Christ,  and  He,  as  we  have 
seen,  knew  nothing  of  such  bondage  and  fear. 
He  changed  whatever  needed  to  be  changed, 
and  in  so  doing  vindicated  for  all  time  the 
rights  of  innovation,  so  far  as  that  may  be 
demanded  by  the  circumstances  of  the  church 
at  any  critical  period  of  her  history. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

THE  JOY  OF   THE  JESUS-CIRCLE. 

"  Can  the  children  of  the  Bride-chamber  mourn  as  long  as 
the  Bridegroom  is  with  them  ?  " — Matt.  ix.  15. 

The  children  of  the  Bride-chamber,  the  com- 
panions of  the  Bridegroom,  such  is  the  title 
given  by  Jesus  to  His  disciples.  The  title  is 
intended  to  convey  an  important  truth  con- 
cerning disciple  life.  For  here  again  the  point 
of  the  parable  lies  in  what  is  implied:  "My 
disciples  are  as  the  companions  of  a  bride- 
groom at  a  wedding  feast."  Understand  that 
and  you  cease  to  wonder  that  they  do  not  fast. 

"The  children  of  the  Bridechamber ;"  what 
a  significant  name,  how  much  it  tells  us  as  to 
the  spirit  that  reigns  in  the  Jesus-circle.?  That 
little  society  are  like  a  wedding  party,  accom- 
panying their  friend  to  the  place  where  he  is 
to  be  married  to  his  bride.  Their  mood  is  one 
of  joy,  and  unrestrained  mirth.  As  they  move 
along  with  light  heart  they  make  the  welkin 
ring  with  laughter  and  song.  By  no  other 
emblem  could  the  idea  of  an  absolutely  un- 
qualified happiness  have  been  more  vividly  or 


198         THE  JOY  OF  THE  JESUS-CIRCLE. 

strongly  expressed.  For  the  marriage-day  is 
the  one  brightest  day  in  the  life  of  mortals.  It 
is  a  bright,  cloudless  day  for  all,  even  for  the 
poor,  the  heavily  burdened  sons  of  toil.  On 
that  day  the  very  beggar  forgets  his  misery, 
and  feels  a  joy  that  is  not  marred  by  painful 
memories,  or  unpleasant  anticipations,  though 
his  bed  be  but  the  grassy  margin  of  the  high- 
way. Cares  and  sorrows  come  to  all,  in  the 
years  which  follow ;  but  they  cast  no  shadows 
on  the  bridegroom's  path.  On  his  wedding- 
day  he  takes  no  thought  of  to-morrow  ;  his 
bliss  is  as  complete  as  if  it  were  to  be  eternal. 
Such  was  the  bliss  of  Christ's  disciples. 

This  bliss  was  not  an  accident,  or  an  affair 
of  temperament.  Joy  is  not  so  rife  in  this 
world  that  we  can  witness  it  without  feeling  it 
needful  to  enquire  into  its  cause.  When  the 
elder  brother,  approaching  his  father's  house, 
heard  the  sound  of  music  and  dancing,  he  quite 
naturally  asked.  What  these  things  meant  ? 
There  is,  indeed,  in  early  youth  such  a  thing  as 
a  joy  of  mere  existence:  it  is  what  constitutes 
the  peculiar  felicity  of  childhood.  There  are 
also  some  who  are  blessed  with  such  a  happy 
temperament  that  even  after  they  have  reached 
the  years  of  maturity,  and  all  through  life,  they 
retain  somewhat  of  the  buoyancy  and  joyous 
recklessness  of  boyish  days.  But  such  kitten- 
like friskiness,  and  irrepressible  elasticity  are 


THE  JOY  OF  THE  JESUS-CIRCLE.         1  99 

not  likely  to  be  found  among  toiling-,  hard- 
fisted,  weather-beaten  men  like  the  companions 
of  Jesus,  formerly  fishermen  and  tax-gatherers. 
If  they  are  in  the  mood  of  men  going  to  a 
wedding,  there  must  be  powerful  influences  at 
work  tending  to  raise  them  above  the  mist  and 
gloom  of  care  into  the  serene  atmosphere  of 
joy  where  no  clouds  intercept  the  sunlight. 
What  is  the  secret  of  their  joy ;  what  are  its 
component  elements  ? 

In  general,  the  joy  of  the  disciples  was  the 
natural  effluence  of  the  new  life  imparted  to 
those  who  joined  the  society  of  Jesus.  It  was 
the  joy  of  being  in  Christ's  company,  and  in 
part  it  was  a  reflection  of  the  joy  that  was  in 
Christ  Himself  For  while  Christ  was  in  a 
profound  degree  a  man  of  sorrow,  He  was 
also  very  emphatically  a  man  of  joy.  His  was 
a  threefold  gladness.  First,  He  had  the  joy  of 
His  vocation,  the  deep  satisfaction  connected 
with  doing  good  to  men.  His  desire  to  confer 
benefit  was  a  passion,  and  when  opportunity 
for  gratifying  it,  such  as  He  had  just  enjoyed 
at  Matthew's  farewell  feast,  off"ered  itself,  it 
afforded  Him  intense  delight.  Then  in  His 
private  or  personal  capacity  He  had  the  joy  of 
one  whose  religion  is  not  the  product  of  human 
traditions,  but  is  an  absolutely  original  thing  ; 
a  fountain  of  fresh  intuitions  of  truth,  issuing  in 
a  stream  of  life  which  shapes  its  own  course 


200         THE  JOY  OF  THE  JESUS-CIRCLE. 

and  flows  freely,  unconstrained  by  the  embank- 
ments of  custom.  Inexpressibly  sweet  at  all 
times  is  this  joy  of  "religion  new  given,"  fresh 
from  the  Fountain  of  light  and  life,  the  Father 
in  heaven !  Compared  with  this  religion  of 
revived  "  intuitive  and  fresh  perceptions,"  what 
a  dull  hum-drum  existence  that  of  the  Pharisees, 
or  even  of  the  Baptist  and  his  disciples,  with 
its  methodised  fasting  and  praying  and  alms- 
giving ! 

Specially  sweet  is  such  a  free  life  of  the  spirit 
In  fellowship  with  God  if  it  comes  after  an 
experience  of  the  tread-mill  routine  of  religious 
mechanism.  What  a  dismal  doom  to  have  the 
Rabbis  for  teachers  and  taskmasters ;  to  be 
obliged  to  think  Rabbinical  thoughts  of  God, 
and  to  practise  Rabbinical  morals ;  lax  on  this 
side,  ridiculously  strict  on  that !  The  gospel 
history  gives  us  little  information  about  our 
Lord's  connection  wath  the  Rabbinical  schools 
or  schoolmasters.  It  is  quite  credible  however, 
that  in  His  boyhood  He  had  to  endure  such 
instruction  as  they  had  to  give.  It  may,  as 
Zinzendorf  suggests,  have  been  a  part  of  His 
humiliation  state  in  early  years  to  have  His 
head  filled  with  "  Rabbinical  rubbish."  *  His 
utterances  during  the  period  of  His  public 
ministry  exhibit  familiarity  with  the  doctrine 
of  the  scribes.     One  thing,  however,  is  certain, 

*   Vide  "  The  Humiliation  of  Christ,"  2d  edition,  p.  424. 


THE  JOY  OF  THE  JESUS-CIRCLE.         20I 

that  if  Rabbinical  rubbish  got  access  by  any 
means,  through  books  or  by  oral  instruction  or 
by  hearsay,  to  the  head  of  the  boy  Jesus,  it 
never  found  the  way  to  His  heart.  Even  at 
the  early  age  of  twelve  He  had  a  most  un- 
rabbinical  way  of  speaking  concerning  God. 
"  Wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be  about  my  Father's 
business."*  But  just  because  the  heart  of  the 
holy  child  never  could  have  any  sympathy  with 
Rabbinical  follies  in  doctrine  and  life,  it  would 
be  all  the  greater  a  trial  to  be  obliged  to  give 
them  a  place  in  His  understanding,  or  to  be 
required  by  the  proprieties  of  life  even  to  seem 
to  regard  them  with  respect.  A  boy  may  not 
decently  appear  wiser  than  a  gray-haired  man, 
yet  how  easy  for  any  unsophisticated  open- 
hearted  child — for  a  Peter,  not  to  speak  of  a 
Jesus,  to  see  that  the  Rabbis  were  learned  fools! 
What  a  burden,  what  a  bondage,  what  a  humili- 
ation to  see  this,  yet  have  to  bear  it  all  in 
silence  till  the  years  of  maturity  arrived,  when 
it  would  no  longer  be  unseemly  to  have  openly 
a  mind  of  one's  own  !  And  what  a  relief  then 
to  escape  for  ever  from  the  external  sway  of 
these  blind  guides,  or  the  yoke  of  deference  to 
their  reputation,  and  to  be  free  to  utter  the 
long-cherished  thoughts  of  the  hidden  inner  life 
in  the  form  of  a  doctrine  of  God  credible  and 
acceptable,  making  trust  in  Him  for  time  and 
*  Luke  ii.  49. 


202         THE  JOY  OF  THE  JESUS-CIRCLE. 

eternity  possible  and  easy,  and  the  worship  of 
Him  a  delight,  and  to  shape  conduct  by  broad 
rational  principles  rather  than  by  petty  vexa- 
tious, arbitrary  rules !  Of  this  felicity  Jesus 
had  experience.  He  knew  the  joy  not  only  of 
religious  originality,  but  also  of  religious  liberty 
from  abhorred  bondage. 

Into  these  joys  of  Jesus  the  twelve  more  or 
less  entered  on  becoming  His  disciples.  Their 
joy  was,  doubtless,  in  all  respects  faint  and 
shallow  compared  with  their  Master's ;  still,  it 
was  the  same  in  kind,  if  not  in  degree.  They 
shared  in  some  measure  His  pleasure  in  doing 
good  and  cherishing  beneficent  affections.  The 
Galilean  mission  was  an  education  in  philan- 
thropy. In  the  society  of  Jesus  they  were  learn- 
ing betimes  the  sacred  enthusiasm  of  human- 
ity, and  were  being  gradually  raised  above 
the  narrow  prejudices  of  their  age  and  nation 
against  particular  classes.  Every  meeting,  like 
that  in  Matthew's  house  with  publicans  and 
sinners,  was  a  new  lesson  in  the  grace  of  charity. 
The  very  composition  of  the  apostolic  band 
was  a  discipline  for  all  its  members  in  tolerance 
and  catholic  sympathy.  In  the  goodly  fellow- 
ship were  united  fishermen,  tax-gatherers,  ex- 
members  of  political  parties,  Galileans,  Ju- 
daeans.*  Here  was  a  holy  catholic  church  in 
miniature,    having   for   its    watchword,  all    old 

*  Vide  "  The  Training  of  the  Twelve,"  p.  33,  3d  ed. 


THE  JOY  OF  THE  JESUS-CIRCLE.         203 

distinctions  merged  in  the  common  relation  to 
the  one  Lord. 

The  disciples  further  had  part  in  the  joy  of 
fresh  religious  intuitions.  They  were  not  as  yet 
strong  enough  to  be  original  themselves,  but 
they  could  in  some  measure  appreciate  the  ori- 
ginality of  Jesus.  The  utterances  of  His  mind 
were  a  source  of  delight  to  them,  they  hardly 
knew  why.  It  was  such  a  pleasure  as  students 
feel  in  listening  to  the  prelections  of  a  renowned 
master  in  science,  philosophy,  or  theology,  or 
lovers  of  poetry  in  reading  a  new  poem  full  of 
bright  conceptions  ;  such  a  pleasure  as  all  intel- 
ligent persons  find  in  the  talk  of  a  man  of 
genius.  They  were  dull,  illiterate  Galileans, 
but  they  had  honest  moral  instincts,  and  knew 
wisdom  when  they  met  it.  They  soon  per- 
ceived that  Jesus  was  no  ordinary  rabbi,  that 
He  spake  with  unique  authority,  that  He  had 
"words  of  eternal  life." 

Yet,  once  more,  these  disciples  participated  in 
a  slight  degree  in  the  joy  of  spiritual  freedom. 
Away  north  in  Galilee,  remote  from  Jerusalem 
the  headquarters  of  the  scribes,  they  probably 
did  not  come  very  much  under  the  malign  influ- 
ence of  Rabbinism.  But  even  there  the  evil 
thing  penetrated.  A  man  could  hardly  live 
anywhere  in  the  Holy  Land  without  having 
his  shoulders  galled  by  the  heavy  yoke.  And 
if  the  companions  of  Jesus  escaped  with  a  slight 


204         THE  JOY  OF  THE  JESUS-CIRCLE. 

taste  of  the  bondage,  they  had  been  called  to 
endure  something  analogous  to  the  Pharisaic 
regime  in  another  quarter.  Some  of  them  at 
least  had  been  disciples  of  John  before  they 
came  to  Jesus.  Between  the  Scribes  and  John 
there  was  certainly  a  wide  difference — all  the 
difference  there  is  between  trifling  and  earnest- 
ness, hypocrisy,  conscious  or  unconscious,  and 
downright  sincerity.  A  hard,  strict  religious 
system  is  always  respectable  and  bearable  when 
it  is  found  associated  with  such  high  moral  qual- 
ities. Nevertheless  it  remains  true  that  John's 
way  was  hard  and  strict,  and,  in  detail,  very 
much  the  same  as  that  of  the  rabbis.  John  was 
a  noble  prophet  of  moral  law,  and  his  earnest- 
ness in  preaching  repentance  and  righteousness 
had  an  irresistible  attraction  for  young  ingenu- 
ous souls.  And  so  they  flocked  to  the  wilder- 
ness to  hear  him  preach  and  to  become  his  dis- 
ciples, and  to  practise  the  better  life  under  his 
direction.  And  for  a  while  John's  yoke  might 
seem  easy  and  his  burden  light,  because  of  the 
nobleness  of  spirit  which  redeemed  and  glorified 
all  its  austerities.  But  by  and  bye  it  began  to 
feel  irksome.  The  daily  round  of  prayers  and 
fasts  and  purifyings  grew  to  be  monotonous  and 
wearisome,  and  the  heart  craved  for  something 
different.  Jesus  came,  and  His  look  and  tone 
told  the  ascetics  of  the  desert  that  He  could 
supply  the  want.     Henceforth  John  decreased 


THE  JOY  OF  THE  JESUS-CIRCLE.         205 

in  the  esteem  of  his  own  followers,  and  Jesus 
increased.  John's  work  was  done,  he  had 
served  his  purpose,  those  that  had  been  with 
him  had  got  good  from  him  ;  but  the  proof  of 
this  was  that  they  had  grown  tired  of  him,  and 
had  recognised  in  Jesus  the  true  Bridegroom  of 
the  soul  with  whom  it  is  good  to  be  united  in 
eternal  wedlock.  And  so  they  joined  the 
society  of  Jesus,  and  in  His  company  experi- 
enced the  joy  of  religious  liberty,  the  joy  of 
deliverance  from  rules  to  principles,  from 
mechanical  routine  to  spontaneity,  from  asce- 
ticism to  the  healthful  activities  connected  with 
the  work  of  the  kingdom. 

The  Pauline  literature  helps  us  to  appreciate 
the  full  significance  of  these  elements  of  reli- 
gious joy— the  joy  of  love,  the  joy  oi  fresh  inspi- 
ration, and  the  joy  of  liberty.  There  we  find  the 
germs  unfolded,  and  the  doctrine  writ  large. 
Paul  passed  through  a  tragic  religious  experi- 
ence which  gave  intensity  to  all  the  momenta  of 
his  Christian  consciousness.  His  experience 
differed  from  that  both  of  Christ  and  of  Christ's 
disciples.  In  the  soul  of  Jesus  no  painful  in- 
ward struggles  occurred  between  contending 
theories  or  principles— opposing  ways  of  think- 
ing of  God,  man,  duty.  All  through  His  life, 
from  early  youth  to  mature  manhood,  He  was 
blessed,  according  to  all  indications,  with  the 
unclouded  vision  of  truth,  and  with  an  unbroken 


206         THE  JOY  OF  THE  JESUS-CIRCLE. 

serenity  of  spirit  The  spiritual  insight,  which 
for  most  men  is  a  conquest,  appears  to  have 
been  for  Him  as  easy  as  the  vision  of  the  physi- 
cal world.  The  contrast  in  His  case  was  not 
between  light  and  darkness  within,  but  between 
light  within  and  darkness  without.  Within  was 
the  tranquil  contemplation  of  God,  without  was 
the  murky  atmosphere  of  Rabbinic  lore  seeking 
to  penetrate  into  the  sunlit  mind  and  turn  its 
day  into  night  ;  but  succeeding  only  in  making 
it  conscious  of  the  proximity  of  something  un- 
genial. 

In  the  inner  history  of  the  twelve,  likewise, 
there  does  not  appear  to  have  been  any  great 
crisis.  They  had  not,  indeed,  always  lived  in 
the  light ;  but  spiritual  illumination  came  to 
them  gradually,  not  like  a  sudden  flash  of  light- 
ning, but  with  the  gentle,  stealthy  approach  of 
dawn.  The  wisdom  and  the  goodness  of  Jesus 
charmed  the  simple  fishermen  of  Galilee. 
When  they  heard  Him  speak  of  a  Father-God, 
and  of  an  idyllic  life  of  trust,  free  from  care 
as  that  of  the  birds  and  the  flowers,  and  of  a 
kingdom  of  heaven  alone  worthy  to  take  the'first 
place  in  men's  thoughts,  they  felt  that  they  had 
never  heard  the  like  before:  nothing  so  beauti- 
ful, and,  strange  as  the  teaching  might  seem, 
nothing  so  true  ;  and  with  little  hesitation  they 
forsook  their  handicrafts  and  j'oined  His  society, 
that  they  might  hear  more  of  the  same  kind. 


THE  JOY  OF  THE  JESUS-CIRCLE.         20/ 

words  of  eternal  life.  And  in  His  company 
they  did  hear  more,  for  in  Him  was  a  perennial 
well  of  wisdom  whose  waters  never  failed,  and 
as  they  listened  they  grew  insensibly  wiser, 
and  passed  through  a  lengthened  twilight  of 
disciplehood  into  apostolic  day. 

In  the  case  of  Saul  of  Tarsus,  on  the  other 
hand,  there  was  a  tragic  struggle  between  two 
incompatible  religious  theories — Pharisaism  and 
Christianity,  law  and  gospel,  works  and  faith, 
self-salvation  and  salvation  by  grace — issuing 
in  a  great  crisis  wherein  the  crucified  Galilean 
came  forth  victorious  over  prejudice,  and  pride, 
and  venerable  custom.  This  struggle  left  in- 
delible marks  on  Paul's  Christian  character. 
It  shaped  his  views  of  the  gospel,  it  determined 
his  career,  it  gave  a  peculiar  colour  to  his  piety. 
Because  Paul  had  been  a  fanatical  Pharisee,  in 
whom  the  spirit  of  self-righteousness  had  kicked 
passionately  against  the  pricks  of  a  conscience 
whispering  that  legalism  was  a  failure,  and  at 
length  died  hard,  it  came  to  pass  that  he  was 
after  his  conversion  the  kind  of  Christian  that 
we  know  him  to  have  been.  In  particular,  his 
peculiar  experience  brought  out  into  strong 
relief  the  elements  of  Christian  joy.  First,  the 
joy  of  beneficent  love  finding  scope  in  his  voca- 
tion as  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles.  Because  Paul 
had  been  a  bigoted  Pharisee,  it  followed  that  on 
his  conversion  he  adopted  with  enthusiasm  the 


208         THE  JOY  OF  THE  JESUS-CIRCLE. 

programme  of  Christian  universalism ;  the 
gospel  for  the  world,  not  for  Jews  only,  and  for 
all  on  equal  terms.  He  swung  with  all  the 
force  of  his  passionate  nature  from  Jewish  ex- 
clusiveness  to  Christian  catholicity.  He  had 
tried  to  make  the]  law  everything,  and  since  it 
could  not  be  that,  he  treated  it  as  nothing,  or 
less,  mere  refuse,  and  adopted  as  his  watchword 
righteousness  by  faith  alone,  and  unto  all 
who  believe.  And  with  this  grand,  simple  pro- 
gramme, he  entered  on  his  Gentile  mission 
burning  with  desire  to  make  God's  grace  known 
to  all  mankind,  and  finding  in  his  abundant 
success  a  continuous  triumph.  He  felt  his 
apostolic  calling  to  be  at  once  a  necessity  and 
a  delight.  Simply  to  know  that  it  was  God's 
will  that  the  heathen  peoples  should  participate 
in  the  riches  of  His  grace,  was  to  be  under  an 
obligation  to  make  this  great  mystery  known 
to  all  whom  it  concerned.  And  the  obligation 
was  no  burden,  but  rather  a  privilege  and 
an  honour. 

Paul  experienced  also  in  an  intense  degree, 
the  joy  of  first-hand  intuitions  of  truth.  He 
did  not  learn  his  gospel  from  men,  not  even 
from  the  companions  of  Jesus  ;  as  he  found  it 
needful  to  declare  with  great  solemnity  and 
emphasis,  in  connection  with  the  controversies 
which  arose  between  him  and  the  Judaists. 
God    directly  revealed   His   Son  to    his  mind. 


THE  JOY  OF  THE  JESUS-CIRCLE.         2O9 

The  revelation  came  with  such  immediacy  and 
power,  that  he  could  liken  it  to  nothing  else 
than  that  sublime  act  in  the  drama  of  crea- 
tion, when  God  said,  "  Let  there  be  light,  and 
there  was  light."  *  What  a  joy  unspeakable  in 
the  fresh  inspirations  of  heaven  is  implied  in 
such  a  bold  comparison !  What  would  not  one 
give,  what  struggles  would  not  one  patiently 
pass  through,  what  trials  by  doubt  and  fear  and 
failure  would  one  not  gladly  endure,  to  be  par- 
taker at  last  of  such  a  joy  ! 

Once  more,  Paul  knew  the  rapture  connected 
with  the  joy  of  Christian  liberty.  He  had 
served  the  law  like  a  slave,  had  been  mated  to 
it  as  a  cruel  husband,  had  been  under  its  irk- 
some rules  and  restraints  during  a  long 
minority,  had  even  been  kept  in  gaol  by  it  as  a 
merciless  turnkey.  The  lash  of  the  law's  whip, 
its  unkind  harsh  words  of  threatening,  its  endless 
pedantries,  the  dark,  dank  dungeon  in  which  it 
immured  its  prisoners — he  had  undergone  them 
all,  till  hope  had  died  out  in  his  soul,  and  he 
could  only  groan  out,  "  Wretched  man,  who 
shall  deliver  me  ? "  Jesus  came  and  delivered 
him  ;  snapped  his  chains,  dissolved  the  union, 
dismissed  the  tutors  and  governors,  opened  the 
prison.  'And  now  he  was  free,  and  who  can 
declare  the  joy  of  the  freed  man,  to  be  done 
with   the  law  for  ever;  to  be  well  rid   of  the 

*   2  Cor.  iv.  6. 
O 


2IO         THE  JOY  OF  THE  JESUS-CIRCLE. 

tyrant,  and  happily  wedded  to  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  through  the  love  of  him  to  become  fruitful 
in  all  Christian  graces  and  holy  deeds  ?  It  is 
a  j*oy  with  which  no  stranger  may  intermeddle, 
of  which  no  man,  or  party,  shall  be  allowed  on 
any  pretext  to  rob  him.  It  has  cost  him  much 
and  he  will  defend  the  treasure  against  all 
comers. 

We  thus  see  that  between  Christ  and  Paul, 
however  distinctive  their  respective  teaching 
may  be  in  its  theological  form,  there  is  an  essen- 
tial agreement  in  religious  tone.  The  piety  of 
the  great  Master  and  that  of  the  great  apostle 
exhibit  the  same  characteristics.  And  these 
characteristics  are  the  standing  features  of 
genuine  evangelic  piety.  We  are  not  to  sup- 
pose that  the  joys  described  were  the  preroga- 
tive of  the  first  Christian  generation,  and  are 
now  no  longer  possible.  For,  as  we  have  al- 
ready learned,  pure  religion  is  not  given  once 
for  all.  It  is  given,  and  then  there  is  a  falling 
away  from  the  spirit,  if  not  from  the  letter  of 
the  revelation,  and  then  it  has  to  be  regiven. 
The  bridegroom  is  taken  away  by  hostile  influ- 
ences," and  then  the  mood  changes.  Sorrow 
takes  the  place  of  joy,  which  is  restored  by  the 
bridegroom  coming  again.  The  history  of  the 
Church  shows  that  it  has  ever  been  found  diffi- 
cult to  remain  standing  on  the  platform  of  free 
grace.     Downcome  from   that  high  level  to  a 


THE  JOY  OF  THE  JESUS-CIRCLK.         2  I  I 

lower,  from  grace  to  law,  from  liberty  to  bond- 
age ;  downcome  first  in  practice  then  in  theory, 
seems  almost  inevitable.  As  it  was  with  Israel 
of  old,  so  has  it  been  in  the  experience  of  the 
Church.  The  ransomed  host  of  Jehovah  stood 
on  the  further  shore  of  the  Red  Sea,  rejoicing 
in  their  new  gained  freedom,  and  sang  in  heroic 
mood  their  song  of  triumph.  But  soon  the 
slavish  spirit  regained  its  ascendancy;  fear  suc- 
ceeded to  hope,  murmurs  to  martial  strains,  and 
the  emancipated  multitude  in  their  hearts  wished 
themselves  safe  back  in  Egypt  again.  Some- 
thing similar  befel  the  Apostolic  Churches  in 
Galatia  and  elsewhere.  They  began  in  the 
spirit  and  ended  in  the  flesh  ;  they  started  in 
the  evangelic  key  of  trust  and  joy,  and  lapsed 
into  the  fear  and  gloom  of  legalism.  Such 
lapses  have  often  occurred  since  then.  And 
every  lapse  brings  a  need  for  a  restoration  of 
the  intuition.  And  when  this  takes  place,  then 
Christians  once  more  become  children  of  the 
bridechamber,  and  keep  spiritual  high-tide. 
Then  is  poured  out  anew  on  the  Church  the 
spirit  of  Christian  joy;  joy  in  a  creed  that  fills 
the  heart  with  light  and  hope,  in  the  spirit  of 
adoption  which  calls  God  Father,  in  a  wide  fel- 
lowship of  saints  heedless  of  party  barriers,  in 
beneficent  deeds,  in  the  spontaneity  of  the 
divine  life,  in  escape  from  all  the  bitter  fruit  of 
the  legal  spirit — fear,  depression,  despondency, 


2  I  2         THE  JOY  OF  THE  JESUS-CIRCLE. 

narrowness  of  sympathy,  sectarian  exclusivencss, 
bondage  to  custom,  fetish  worship  of  form, 
jealousy  of  new  things,  despair  of  the  future, 
idolatry  of  the  past,  as  if  God  were  dead  and 
the  devil  only  alive. 

These  two  types  or  phases  of  piety,  the  evan- 
gelic and  the  legal,  are  not,  as  a  rule,  strictly 
successive.  They  usually  overlap  each  other, 
and  may  be  found  side  by  side  in  the  same  reli- 
gious community.  In  every  church  there  are 
the  disciples  of  John  and  the  disciples  of  Jesus, 
the  children  of  the  bondswoman,  and  the  chil- 
dren of  the  free  woman.  Their  ways  are  diverse, 
their  tempers  incompatible,  it  is  hard  for  them 
to  live  together,  and  while  they  do  so,  they  are 
in  constant  conflict.  The  subject  of  controversy 
varies  from  time  to  time.  In  Christ's  day  it  was 
fasting,  in  Paul's  it  was  circumcision,  in  our  own 
time  and  neighbourhood  it  is  modes  of  worship, 
the  materials  of  and  aids  to  praise,  and  the  like. 
But  the  fundamental  cause  of  strife  is  ever  the 
same — diversity  of  spirit  and  tendency  making 
fellowship  irksome,  and  provoking  in  either 
party  the  desire  to  cast  the  other  out.  But  it 
is  the  duty  of  all  to  curb  their  impatience,  and  to 
bear  with  each  other,  imitating  the  gentleness 
of  Christ,  who,  while  defending  the  conduct  of 
Himself,  and  His  disciples,  treated  the  prefer- 
ence of  others  for  established  religious  customs 
as  not  less  natural  than  the  preference  of  old 


THE  JOY  OF  THE  JESUS-CIRCLE.        2  I  3 

wine  to  new.  This  wise,  benignant  tolerance  it 
is  the  duty  of  the  party  of  liberty  to  practise 
towards  their  stricter  brethren.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  for  the  latter  to  remember  the  warn- 
ing contained  in  the  parables  of  the  new  patch 
and  the  new  wine.  The  new  garment  must  be 
homogeneous,  the  new  wine  must  have  new 
bottles.  Along  with  the  fresh  vision  of  truth 
comes  the  need  for  new  modes  of  manifesting 
spiritual  life.  In  spite  of  the  impotent  inter- 
dicts of  an  effete  legalism  the  demand  will 
create  a  supply  in  a  new  religious  literature,  in 
new  songs  of  praise,  in  new  methods  of  carrying 
on  the  work  of  the  kingdom,  in  a  powerful  per- 
vasive revival  of  church  life.  There  is  nothing 
to  fear,  but  everything  to  hope  for  from  such  a 
revival.  It  may  mar  the  plans  of  a  partisan 
ecclesiasticism,  and  scandalise  religious  Phari- 
saism, but  it  will  bring  fresh  glory  to  Christ, 
and  rejoice  the  hearts  of  all  honest  Christian 
men. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE   EVANGELIC   SPIRIT. 

"Blessed  is  he,  whosoever  shall  not  be  offended  in  Me." — 
Matt.  xi.  6. 

Always  when  our  Lord  used  this  epithet 
"blessed,"  He  meant  to  speak  of  some  privilege, 
felicity,  or  virtue,  high  and  rare.  The  happiness 
and  virtue  of  which  He  speaks  in  this  text  were 
rare  indeed  in  His  day  ;  we  might  even  say  had 
no  existence.  There  was  not,  so  far  as  we  know, 
one  person  then  living  in  Palestine  of  those  who 
came  into  contact  with  Jesus  who  did  not  find 
some  occasion  of  stumbling  in  Him  on  some 
account  and  at  some  time  or  other.  The  Phari- 
sees, of  course,  and  without  exception,  found 
occasion  of  stumbling,  but  so  did  John  the 
Baptist  and  his  disciples,  so  did  Christ's  own 
disciples,  so  did  the  general  populace.  The 
causes  of  stumbling  were  various,  but  among 
the  more  outstanding  were  the  lozvliness  and  the 
love  of  Jesus.  The  former  was  the  chief  stum- 
bling block  to  Christ's  own  disciples.  They 
could  not  reconcile  the  dignity  of  his  claims  as 
the  Messiah  with  the  lowliness  of  his  lot  and  of 


THE  EVANGELIC  SPIRIT.  215 

his  spirit  as  the  Son  of  Man.  Hence  the  offence 
they  took  at  the  first  explicit  unmistakeable 
mention  of  the  approaching  catastrophe  at 
Jerusalem.  The  love  of  Jesus,  on  the  other 
hand,  was  in  different  ways  a  chief  cause  of 
misconception  to  the  Pharisees  and  to  the 
Baptist.  The  Pharisees  could  not  comprehend 
why  Jesus  took  so  much  interest  in  the  socially 
degraded  and  the  morally  disreputable.  Unable 
to  sympathise  with,  or  even  to  conceive,  the 
true  source  of  that  interest,  the  gracious  love 
and  pity  of  the  good  Pastor  and  good  Physician 
of  men,  they  ascribed  it  to  evil  passion,  and 
brought  against  the  "  friend  of  publicans  and 
sinners  "  a  charge  of  vicious  indulgence.  To 
John  also  the  incomprehensible  element  in  Him 
whom  he  had  proclaimed  to  be  the  Christ  and 
King  of  Israel  was  his  grace,  mercifulness, 
patience.  Only,  in  his  case,  it  was  not  the  atti- 
tude assumed  by  Jesus  towards  the  socially  and 
morally  lower  orders  that  created  perplexity,  but 
His  patient  bearing  towards  the  subtler  spiritual 
vices  of  the  religious  class,  of  the  very  men  who 
blamed  Him  for  loving  sinners  and  publicans. 
The  Pharisees  wondered  at  Christ's  patience 
with  the  rude  ignorant  mob,  and  the  Baptist 
wondered  at  his  patience  with  them,  whom  he 
characterised  as  "  a  generation  of  vipers."  Alto- 
gether this  was  not  the  sort  of  Christ  he  had 
expected.      He  was  too  humane,  too  tolerant, 


2  I  6  THE  EVANGELIC  SPIRIT. 

too  benignant,  genial,  and  kindly.  He  had 
looked  for  a  Messiah  with  an  axe  and  a  fan  in 
his  hand,  to  cut  down,  and  sift,  and  deal  swiftly 
and  effectually  with  unrighteousness  in  every 
form.  But  lo  !  He  whom  he  had  taken  for  the 
Messiah  came  with  no  such  insignia,  but  with 
words  of  grace  on  his  lips  to  the  poor,  the  out- 
cast, the  depraved,  and  with  gentleness  in  his 
heart  towards  all ;  seeing  the  evil  in  society, 
especially  in  religious  society,  clearly,  and  de- 
scribing it  accurately  on  fitting  occasions,  but  in 
no  mood  to  play  the  part  of  executioner  of 
Divine  vengeance.  Could  this  gracious,  sympa- 
thetic, tolerant  man  be  indeed  the  Christ?  Such 
were  the  thoughts  out  of  which  arose  the  mission 
of  enquiry  referred  to  in  the  beginning  of  the 
chapter  from  which  our  text  is  taken. 

Christ's  fault,  in  the  eyes  of  his  contemporaries, 
was  simply  that  He  was  like  his  work  as  the 
first  Minister,  Herald,  and  Founder  of  the  King- 
dom of  God.  That  kingdom  is  a  kingdom  of 
grace  wherein  God  manifests  Himself  as  a 
benignant  Father.  The  announcement  of  its 
advent  was  therefore  good  news,  the  gospel. 
And  Jesus  threw  Himself  with  ardour  into  the 
work  of  proclaiming  the  good  tidings.  And 
that  was  the  head  and  front  of  His  offending. 
That  is  to  say.  His  offence  was  a  gospel-like 
spirit,  an  evangelic  temper,  and  all  that  goes 
along  with  that.     A  strange   ground   of  fault- 


THE  EVANGELIC  SPIRIT.  21  7 

finding  we  are  apt  to  think,  yet  when  the  matter 
is  more  narrowly  looked  into  it  may  be  found 
not  so  strange.  When  the  moral  phenomenon 
presented  in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ  is  con- 
sidered on  all  its  sides,  it  may  be  found  to 
contain  elements  that  are  apt  to  become  occa- 
sions of  stumbling  even  now,  not  chiefly  to 
avowed  unbelievers  or  freethinkers,  but  very 
specially  to  those  who  are  the  zealous  patrons  of 
evangelic  piety ;  in  which  case  it  must  cease  to 
appear  surprising  that  this  moral  Wonder  was  a 
puzzle  to  His  own  generation. 

It  may  form  a  suitable  close  to  these  studies 
on  the  Galilean  Gospel,  and  supply  a  useful  test 
of  the  worth  of  current  opinions  as  to  what  is 
sound,  normal,  and  commendable  in  religion,  if 
we  now  endeavour  to  frame  as  clear  and  com- 
prehensive a  conception  as  possible  of  the 
Evangelic  Spirit  as  exhibited  in  the  ministry  and 
character  of  Jesus,  the  exemplar  and  standard 
in  all  that  relates  to  practical  Christianity. 

The  Evangelic  Spirit,  then,  Jesus  being  the 
pattern,  possesses  certain  well  marked  charac- 
teristics, 

I.  First,  and  fundamental,  is  the  charity 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  was  the  chief  stumbling- 
block  to  the  contemporaries  of  our  Lord.  Jesus 
loved  men  with  a  love  at  once  deep  and  broad ; 
intense  in  its  ardour,  extensive  in  its  range.  Of 
the  intensity  of  His  love  the  all-sufficient  evi- 


2l8  THE  EVANGELIC  SPIRIT. 

dence  is  His  behaviour  towards  the  proscribed 
classes  of  Jewish  society.  Only  a  very  enthusi- 
astic love  could  have  inspired  and  sustained 
such  behaviour,  A  feeble  charity  would  never 
have  troubled  itself  about  social  or  moral 
abjects,  but  would  have  confined  itself  within 
conventional  limits ;  a  moderate  degree  of 
charity  might  have  begun  to  care  for  them,  but 
it  would  have  discontinued  its  efforts  on  dis- 
covering that  these  were  not  regarded  with 
favour  by  the  influential  portion  of  society,  the 
leaders  of  opinion  and  fashion.  Nothing  short 
of  a  love  rising  to  the  heroic  pitch  could  under- 
take the  task  of  seeking  "  the  lost  sheep,"  and 
persevere  in  it  in  defiance  of  indifference,  or 
even  slanderous  misrepresentation.  Christ's 
love  was  equal  to  this.  It  dared  to  fix  its  re- 
gards on  the  lowest  class ;  it  went  down  to  the 
lowest  depths  of  human  depravity,  and  wound 
its  cords  around  those  sunk  in  vice  and  misery, 
that  it  might  lift  them  into  citizenship  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaven. 

The  breadth  of  Christ's  love  is  not  so  appar- 
ent in  the  Gospel  story,  as  its  depth  ;  for  this 
reason,  that  a  regard  to  wise  method  in  estab- 
lishing the  kingdom  of  God  on  the  earth  required 
Him  to  assume  as  His  own  personal  part  that 
of  a  minister  of  grace  to  Israel,  leaving  to  a 
later  stage  the  manifestation  of  the  catholic 
scope,  and  universal  destination  of  the  Gospel. 


THE  EVANGFXIC  SPIRIT.  219 

But  to  a  discerning  eye  the  world-wide  breadth 
of  that  love  is  revealed  in  its  depth.  No  love 
could  go  so  deep  down  which  was  not  capable 
of  embracing  all  mankind  in  its  outstretched 
arms.  Love  going  so  low  could  have  no  objec- 
tions on  principle  to  go  to  the  ends  of  the  earth 
in  quest  of  citizens  for  the  Divine  kingdom. 
Love  that  could  disregard  the  caste  barriers 
which  separated  exemplary  people  from  social 
pariahs,  would  refuse  to  be  hindered  by  barriers 
of  race  or  nationality  from  conveying  its  bless- 
ings to  all  who  needed  them  and  were  ready  to 
welcome  them.  Christ's  love  to  the  outcasts  of 
Israel  was  an  incipient  revolution,  the  dawn  of 
the  new  era  of  a  universal  religion,  and  a  new 
humanity  in  which  distinctions  of  race,  culture, 
and  even  morality,  were  to  disappear,  and  re- 
gard was  to  be  had  solely  to  the  wants  and  the 
capacities  of  man.  It  was  the  form  which 
Christian  universalism  (as  opposed  to  Jewish 
exclusiveness)  took  in  the  initial  stage  of  de- 
velopment. That  being  so,  it  follows  that  even 
in  the  ministry  of  our  Lord,  philanthropy,  wide 
as  the  world,  appears  as  an  essential  attribute 
of  the  evangelic  spirit.  It  belongs  to  its  genius 
to  love  not  only  deeply  but  broadly  ;  to  be 
human  and  humane,  declining  to  be  hampered 
by  conventional  boundaries.  Just  there,  where 
a  narrow  class-spirit  would  fix  the  limit  of 
sympathy,  it  expects  to  find  its  most  legitimate 


2  20  THE  EVANGELIC  SPIRIT. 

and  congenial  objects  of  compassionate  concern 
— among  despised  publicans,  moral  lepers,  men 
of  alien  races  with  whom  Jews  have  no  dealings, 
Samaritans,  Syrophenicians,  Romans  ;  among 
profligates,  Pagans,  heretics,  and  all  who,  from 
whatever  cause,  have  lapsed  from  creed,  and 
synagogue,  and  recognised  religious  society. 

2.  Next  among  the  chief  attributes  of  the 
evangelic  spirit  may  be  mentioned  Hopefiibiess. 
There  was  an  irrepressible,  inexhaustible,  bound- 
less hopefulness  in  Jesus.  One  of  His  counsels 
to  His  disciples  was  never  to  despair  of  any 
one,  never  to  imagine  that  a  loan  of  love  was 
wasted.*  He  Himself  hoped  for  the  moral  re- 
covery of  the  most  degraded.  It  did  not  appear 
to  Him  impossible  that  an  Artesian  well  of 
eternal  life  might  spring  up  from  beneath  the 
rocky  surface  of  an  inveterately  evil  life,  like 
that  of  the  woman  of  Samaria.  The  same  spirit 
of  hopefulness  revealed  itself  in  large  expecta- 
tions as  to  the  ultimate  results  of  His  ministry 
in  the  world.  He  not  only  desired  the  Gospel 
to  be  preached  throughout  the  world,  but  He 
expected  it  to  produce  world-wide  effects.  In 
the  small  beginnings  of  His  own  ministry  He 
saw  the  great  endings  of  the  remote  future ;  in 
the  grain  of  mustard  a  tree,  in  the  lump  of 
leaven  a  race  pervaded  by  Christian  influences, 
in  a  little  band  of  disciples  the  first  fruits  of  a 
great  harvest  of  converts  in  all  lands. 

*  Luke  vi.  35.  vid.  revised  version. 


THE  EVANGELIC  SPIRIT.  22  1 

This  large  hopefulness  was  the  natural  out- 
come of  Christ's  love ;  for  "  love  hopeth  all 
things."  But  it  may  also  be  said  that  Christ's 
spirit  of  hope  helped  Him  to  love.  He  took 
pains  with  unpromising  subjects  because  He 
deemed  the  lowest  capable  of  being  transformed 
into  good  citizens  of  the  divine  kingdom.  The 
indifference  of  the  respectable  and  religious 
people  of  Judaea,  on  the  other  hand,  was  due  not 
merely  to  heartlessness  but  to  hopelessness.  It 
was  in  part  the  indifference  of  despair.  The 
ignorant  and  the  immoral  they  looked  on  simply 
as  people  out  of  whom  no  good  could  come, 
concerning  whom  therefore  it  was  useless  to 
trouble  themselves.  And  quite  consistently 
they  did  not  trouble  themselves,  and  when  they 
saw  Jesus  taking  trouble  they  quite  naturally 
found  His  conduct  altogether  incomprehensible. 

The  moral  is  that  the  men  who  are  to  do  the 
"  mission  work  "  of  the  Church  should  be  men 
with  a  large  element  of  hope  in  their  nature. 
When  such  men  are  found,  they  should  be 
allowed  to  try  their  best  in  their  own  way, 
untrammelled  by  the  instructions  of  mission- 
boards  enamoured  of  red  tape,  or  by  the  pe- 
dantries of  ultra-judicious  Presbyters  whose 
only  talent  is  to  criticise,  and  keep  more  ener- 
getic brethren  right. 

3.  Such  a  hopeful  view  of  man  presupposes  a 
cheering  creed  concerning   God.     The   hope   of 


222  THE  EVANGELIC  SPIRIT. 

Jesus  had  its  root,  not  in  a  Pelagian  theory  of 
the  human  will,  but  in  a  bright  faith  concerning 
the  grace  of  God.  He  believed  in  a  God  who 
delighted  to  bless,  and  who  could  make  the  evil 
good.  And  this  faith  of  His  is  a  third  attribute 
of  the  evangelic  spirit.  In  the  evangelic  con- 
ception of  God,  grace  occupies  the  foremost 
place.  At  this  point  there  is  a  radical  anta- 
gonism between  the  evangelic  and  the  legal 
spirit.  The  antagonism  appeared  in  the  con- 
trast between  Jesus  and  His  Jewish  contem- 
poraries in  their  respective  views  of  God.  For 
whereas  Jesus  believed  in  a  God  of  grace  who 
delighted  to  bless  even  the  unworthy,  and  to 
overcome  evil  with  good,  His  contemporaries 
believed  in  a  God  of  law  who  was  simply 
righteous,  rewarding  men  according  to  their 
works.  The  two  ways  of  thinking  exist  still. 
There  are  those  who  earnestly  believe  in  Divine 
love,  and  there  are  those  who  do  not  in  their 
thoughts  of  God  rise  above  law,  or  even  arbitrary 
irresponsible  will.  To  the  one,  God  is  a  Father,  to 
the  other,  He  is  simply  a  Judge.  The  one  class 
are  led  by  what  Paul  calls  the  spirit  of  adoption, 
the  other  by  the  spirit  of  legalism.  The  con- 
trast between  the  two  classes  is  great ;  they 
can  scarcely  be  said  to  profess  the  same  religion. 
The  religion  of  the  legalist  hails  from  Sinai. 
That  of  the  evangelic  believer  hails  from 
Bethlehem.     It  came  in  with  the  era  of  grace, 


THK  EVANGELIC  SPIRIT.  2  2,3 

and    it    learned    its    theology    from    Jesus    of 
Nazareth. 

4.  Where  such  love,  hope,  and  faith  are, 
there  must  needs  be  joy,  which  therefore  falls 
to  be  named  as  another  outstanding  character- 
istic of  the  evangelic  spirit  as  exhibited  in  the 
Great  Exemplar.  It  is  not  necessary  here  to 
repeat  the  statements  already  made  concerning 
the  spirit  of  gladness  which  prevailed  in  the 
society  of  Jesus  shared  both  by  Master  and  by 
disciple.  All  that  is  needful  at  present  is  to 
emphasise  the  fact  as  an  important  feature  in 
the  contrast  between  evangelic  and  legal  piety. 
Legal  religion,  as  we  know  from  the  case  of 
John  and  his  disciples,  is  joyless,  gloomy,  des- 
ponding. Therefore  it  fasts,  and  addicts  itself 
to  all  kinds  of  ascetic  strict  practices,  striving 
in  that  painful  way  to  gain  victory  over  sin,  and 
perchance  win  the  approving  smile  of  God. 
Evangelic  piety,  Jesus  and  His  disciples  being 
witnesses,  on  the  contrary  is  cheerful,  buoyant, 
joyful.  How  can  it  fail  to  be,  having  a  Father 
in  heaven,  the  peace  of  trust  within,  and  a  good 
outlook  for  the  future  .-*  Its  temper  must  needs 
be  that  defined  in  the  familiar  triplet  of  the 
apostle  Paul:  "rejoicing  in  hope,  patient  in 
tribulation,  continuing  instant  in  prayer." 
Doubtless  there  is  a  power  of  evil  ever  at  work, 
a  law  in  the  members  warring  against  the  law 
of  the  mind — the  only  really  formidable  foe  a 


2  24  THE  EVANGELIC  SPIRIT. 

Christian  has  to  dread,  for  outward  trial  is  of 
no  account.  But  with  regard  to  that  enemy 
within,  the  believing  man's  creed  is  this  :  all 
matters  relating  to  sin  are  too  strong  for  me  to 
cope  with,  but  as  for  our  transgressions  God 
can  purge  them  away.  "  With  Him  is  plenteous 
redemption." 

5.  Along  with  joy  goes,  as  we  have  also 
learned,  liberty,  spontaneity  in  the  manifestation 
of  religious  life.  No  quality  is  more  character- 
istic of  the  evangelic  spirit  than  this.  Christ 
Himself,  as  we  saw,  boldly  asserted  His 
liberty  ;  Paul  followed  His  example  ;  and  both 
vindicated  liberty  as  the  privilege  of  every 
Christian  man.  And  in  proportion  as  we  are 
the  disciples  of  Jesus  and  Paul  we  shall  claim 
and  exercise  our  liberty.  The  man  who  walks 
in  their  footsteps  can  say  with  emphasis:  "Thou 
hast  loosed  my  bonds,"  not  merely  (though 
that  first)  with  reference  to  the  gross  bonds  of 
sinful  habits,  but  likewise  with  reference  to  the 
finer  bonds  of  religious  habits  and  customs  by 
which  many  even  saintly  people  are  bound. 
The  evangelic  spirit  is  characterised  by  a  free 
independent  attitude  towards  all  existing  re- 
ligious usage,  and  the  disposition  to  assert  the 
right  to  create  for  itself  forms  of  expression 
congenial  to  its  own  nature,  and  to  innovate  to 
this^  extent.  This  freedom  is  not  a  matter  of 
self-will,  it  is  a  necessity  of  the  spiritual  life ; 


THE  EVANGELIC  SPIRIT.  225 

it  is  imposed  on  the  Christian  by  the  effervescent 
force  of  the  new  man  within  him.  When 
evangehc  faith,  hope,  and  love  are  strong  they 
will  have  their  own  way.  Why  should  they 
not.-*  What  has  a  better  right  to  assert  itself ? 
Such  right  cannot  consistently  be  denied  in  a 
Christian  Church,  for  what  does  a  church  exist 
for  if  not  to  foster  and  express  Christian  faith, 
hope,  and  love  ?  No  established  church  order 
can  legitimately  interdict  the  exercise  of  this 
right.  Nay  more,  the  attempt  is  foolish, 
suicidal.  The  church  which  refuses  scope  for 
the  free  congenial  expression  of  the  life  of  grace 
must  suffer  the  fate  of  old  skins  into  which 
new  wine  has  been  poured.  The  Head  of  the 
Church  has  said  once  for  all  that  the  new 
evangelic  life  of  the  kingdom  must  be  self- 
legislative,  the  new  spirit  must  create  its  own 
body,  changing  all  that  is  not  congenial,  in- 
novating wherever  it  is  necessary.  And  His 
decree  fulfils  itself  at  all  times  when  the  Church 
is  filled  with  fresh  energetic  spiritual  life.  Only 
when  faith,  hope,  and  love  are  languid,  and  the 
legal  spirit  has  taken  the  place  of  the  evangelic,, 
does  Christian  liberty  decline.  Then  tyranny 
and  servility  take  the  place  of  liberty  ;  tyranny 
in  those  who  would  bind  the  Church  hand  and 
foot  to  the  past,  irrespective  of  all  questions  as 
to  the  suitableness  or  adequacy  of  ancient 
customs  and  opinions  to  present  circumstances 
P 


2  26  THE  EVANGELIC  SPIRIT. 

and  requirements ;  servility  in  those  who  tamely 
submit  to  their  dictation. 

From  these   observations,  of  which  it  were 
easy  to  supply  illustrations  from  past  history 
and  current  events,  it  may  be  inferred  that  it  is 
in   connection    with   the   exercise   of   religious 
liberty  that  the  evangelic  spirit  is  most  apt  to 
give  occasions  of  offence.     And  this  is  probably 
the  truth.     No  parts  of  Christ's   conduct  were 
more  severely  condemned  than  those  in  which 
He  asserted  His  right  to  bring  religious  practice 
into  harmony  with  religious  conviction.     If  His 
love  was  an   offence  to   His  countrymen    His 
liberty  was   at   least   equally   so.     They  were 
living  in  a  huge  spiritual  prison  built  up  by  the 
labours  of  successive  generations  of  Rabbinical 
masters,  and  as  they  looked  through  the  bars 
across   the   narrow   windows   of  their  cells,  it 
annoyed  them  to  see  Jesus  and  His  companions 
walking  at  large,  enjoying   the  sun-light,  and 
the  free  fresh  air  of  heaven.     Why  should  they 
not  be  prisoners  too,  what  right  had  they  to 
disregard  the  traditions   of  the   elders  }     The 
religious  customs  were  of  long  standing,  and 
had  come  down  to  them  hallowed  by  the  ob- 
servance of  pious  ancestors ;  what  miscreants, 
what  profane  men  these  must  be  who  treated 
them  with  contemptuous  neglect !     While  the 
world  lasts  those  who  follow  Christ's  example 
by   using    their   liberty   will    provoke    similar 


THE  EVANGELIC  SPIRIT.  227 

hostility.  For  there  are  always  many  who  arc 
the  slaves  of  custom,  a  great  part  of  whose 
religion  it  is  to  hold  venerable  usages  in 
reverend  esteem.  Not  that  all  times  are  alike 
in  this  respect.  There  are  epochs  characteristi- 
cally free  and  creative,  and  there  are  others 
characteristically  servile  and  imitative.  And 
strange  to  say  these  stand  to  each  other  in  the 
relation  of  cause  and  effect.  The  free  ages 
enslave  those  that  follow.  Luther,  Calvin,  and 
their  contemporaries  take  full  advantage  of  the 
liberty  of  a  Christian  man,  and  create  a  new 
world  ;  and  the  result  is  a  lordship  over  religious 
faith  and  practice  lasting  for  centuries.  As 
time  rolls  on  the  dominion  of  the  past  becomes 
increasingly  oppressive  ;  because  as  men  recede 
from  the  creative  era,  they  become  further  and 
further  removed  from  its  spirit,  and  come  ever 
more  under  bondage  to  the  letter  of  its  law. 
Happily  in  all  such  cases  the  evil  cures  itself 
The  yoke  of  the  letter  becomes  intolerable,  and 
a  new  age  of  the  spirit  begins. 

Christian  liberty,  however,  does  not  stand 
alone  in  giving  offence.  All  the  attributes  of 
the  evangelic  spirit,  when  appearing  in  vigour, 
are  apt  to  provoke  hostility  not  merely  in  the 
outside  world,  but  within  the  kingdom.  The 
whole  fruit  of  this  spirit :  love,  hope,  faith,  joy, 
liberty,  is  liable  to  interdict.  Paul,  speaking  of 
these  or  kindred  qualities,  remarks  :  "  Against 


228  THE  EVANGELIC  SPIRIT. 

such  there  is  no  law."  But  agahist  all  these 
graces  there  is  a  law — the  law  of  custom,  con- 
ventional propriety,  and  average  attainment ; 
for  men  are  as  ready  to  condemn  good  exceed- 
ing their  measure  of  grace  as  evil  falling  short 
of  it.  This  is  conspicuously  true  with  reference 
to  the  first  two  in  Paul's  list  of  the  fruit  of  the 
spirit — love  and  joy.  We  know  how  the  love 
and  joy  of  Jesus  were  found  fault  with.  The 
same  qualities  provoked  manifold  contradiction 
in  the  case  of  Paul.  His  love  to  the  Gentile 
brethren  which  insisted  on  their  admission  to 
the  full  benefits  of  Christian  fellowship  without 
undergoing  circumcision,  was  deemed  extra- 
vagant, and  His  joy  in  freedom  from  the  law 
licentious.  Both  graces,  as  exhibited  in  His 
conduct,  appeared  to  many  nothing  short  of  an 
outrage  on  the  divinely-given  law.  When  we 
bear  this  experience  of  Paul's  in  mind  we  per- 
ceive the  deep  irony  that  lurks  in  his  naive 
observation  already  quoted.  Against  love  and 
joy,  as  he  knew  too  well,  there  was  a  law  with 
severe  penalties  attached,  which  the  law-makers 
took  good  care  to  enforce.  Peter,  likewise, 
found  to  his  cost  that  there  was  a  law  of  public 
opinion  against  catholic  love,  and  Christian 
joy.  It  was  a  law  too  strong  for  him,  though 
not  for  the  more  heroic  Paul.  Hence,  after 
having  tasted  the  joy  of  Christian  liberty  from 
legal  ordinances  concerning  the  clean  and  the 


THE  EVANGELIC  SPIRIT.  2  29 

unclean,  he  was  obliged  to  return  to  the 
bondage  of  Judaism  at  the  bidding  of  bigots 
from  Jerusalem  ;  and  after  enjoying  for  a 
season  happy  fellowship  with  Gentile  brethren, 
he  was  constrained  ignominiously  to  with- 
draw from  them  and  treat  them  as  unclean 
Pagans. 

This  restrictive  spirit  which  condemned  the 
conduct  of  Jesus  and  His  apostles  has  always 
been  active  in  the  Church,  counterworking  the 
spirit  of  God,  and  tending  to  make  Church  life 
and  Christianity  two  very  different  things  ;  nor 
is  it  yet  extinct.  In  Ireland  disloyal  subjects 
combine  to  prohibit  acts  allowed  by  the  law  of 
the  land,  by  a  process  called  boycotting.  Some- 
thing analogous  exists  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  The  spirit  of  the  world  in  the  Church 
finds  ways  and  means  of  discouraging  the 
culture  of  graces  which  God's  law  not  only 
permits  but  enjoins.  The  spirit  of  party  and 
the  spirit  of  self-righteousness  conspire  together 
to  frown  down  all  attempts  to  realise  the  scrip- 
tural ideal  of  Christian  charity  and  Christian 
joy.  That  ideal,  as  set  forth  in  precept  and 
example,  prescribes  love  wide,  large,  magna- 
nimous ;  joy  free,  hearty,  irrepressible.  But 
party  spirit  breeds  contention  and  alienation, 
and  the  spirit  of  self-righteousness  fosters  dead- 
ness,  dullness,  mechanical  routine,  or  self- 
tormenting  asceticism  ;  and  he  is  an  offender 


230  THE  EVANGELIC  SPIRIT. 

who  prefers  to  be  a  Christian   rather  than  a 
partisan  or  a  devotee. 

"  Blessed  is  he  whosoever  shall  not  be  offended 
in  Me."  Because  of  sinister  influences  ever  at 
work,  he  is  apt  to  be  a  rare  man,  but  in  spite 
of  all  drawbacks  he  is  certain  to  be  a  happy- 
man.  He  shall  participate  in  the  happiness  of 
the  Jesus-circle — the  sons  of  the  bride-chamber. 
His  is  the  spirit  of  adoption  whereof  Paul  speaks 
in  such  glowing  terms  ;  the  spirit  of  trust  in 
God  as  a  Father  and  in  His  benignant  Provi- 
dence, of  noble  carelessness  with  regard  to 
to-morrow,  of  hope  respecting  the  future  for 
self,  the  church,  the  world,  of  buoyancy  in  trial, 
of  free,  spontaneous  service,  of  catholic  fellow- 
ship with  all  good  men.  God  putteth  new  songs 
in  his  mouth  which  he  is  not  afraid  to  sing  ; 
songs  with  such  strains  as  this  : — 

"  How  blessed,  from  the  bonds  of  sin 

And  earthly  fetters  free  ; 
In  singleness  of  heart  and  aim, 

Thy  servant,  Lord,  to  be. 
The  hardest  toil  to  undertake, 

With  joy  at  Thy  command. 
The  meanest  office  to  receive 

With  meekness  at  Thy  hand." 

Or  this— 

"  My  heart  is  resting,  O  my  God, 
My  heart  is  in  Thy  care ; 
I  hear  the  voice  of  joy  and  health, 
Resounding  everywhere. 


THE  EVANGELIC  SPIRIT.  23  I 

*  Thou  art  my  portion,'  saith  my  soul, 

Ten  thousand  voices  say  ; 
And  the  music  of  their  glad  Amen, 

Will  never  die  away." 

What  blessedness  would  come  to  the  church 
everywhere,  or  let  us  say  in  Scotland,  were  this 
spirit  of  adoption  poured  out  abundantly  on  her 
members!  It  would  heal  our  divisions  and 
happily  solve  the  ecclesiastical  questions  of  the 
present.  For  the  spirit  of  adoption  is  a  spirit 
of  catholicity.  It  believes  earnestly  in  the  com- 
munion of  saints,  and  recognises  comprehensive 
Christian  fellowship  as  at  once  a  duty  and  a 
delight.  Paul  was  aware  that  this  was  one  of 
its  characteristics,  for  after  the  first  mention  of 
the  privilege  of  sonship  in  his  Epistle  to  the 
Galatians,  he  remarks—"  There  (in  God's  family 
of  faith)  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  there  is 
neither  bond  nor  free,  there  is  neither  male  nor 
female;  for  ye  are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus."* 
That  is  to  say,  irrelevant  distinctions  are 
ignored,  and  unnecessary  partition  walls  thrown 
down,  and  the  common  relation  to  God  is  re- 
cognised as  the  one  necessary  and  sufficient 
bond  of  brotherhood.  Such  is  the  tendency  of 
the  spirit  of  adoption.  The  tendency  of  the 
legal  spirit,  on  the  other  hand,  is  to  multiply 
fundamentals  in  doctrine  and  to  erect  scruples 
into  principles  in  conduct,  and  render  the  fel- 

*  Gal.  iii.  28, 


252  THE  EVANGELIC  SPIRIT, 

lowship  of  saints  to  a  large  extent  a  nullity, 
a  thing  which  one  reads  of  in  the  Apostles' 
Creed,  but  which  no  one  expects  to  see  actually 
realised  in  church  life. 

Our  heart's  desire  for  our  country  is  that  the 
evangelic  spirit  may  be  poured  out  on  the 
members  of  all  the  churches,  bringing  into  their 
hearts  the  scriptural  measures  of  love,  hope, 
faith,  joy,  and  freedom.  What  harmony  pre- 
vails where  these  graces  meet !  Angels  visit 
the  heart  where  they  dwell.  The  temper  is 
sweet,  and  peace  flows  through  the  soul  like  a 
river.  Such  harmony,  sweetness,  and  peace 
were  in  Jesus.  They  found  utterance  in  His 
Gospel.  His  preaching  drew  its  charm  from 
the  music  of  His  spirit.  And  that  is  the  secret 
of  all  pulpit  power.  It  is  easy  to  write  essays 
on  religious  topics,  or  to  serve  up  the  stock 
phrases  of  a  theological  system ;  but  to  utter 
words  of  beauty  that  touch  the  heart,  and  catch 
the  fancy  of  all  open-minded  hearers,  is  given 
only  to  such  as  are  evangelic,  not  only  in 
creed,  but  in  spirit,  evangelic  after  the  manner 
of  Jesus.  May  the  number  of  such  preachers 
be  multiplied  in  our  time,  and  may  the  number 
of  those  who  delight  to  hear  them  be  pro- 
portionally multiplied.  Such  preachers  and 
such  hearers  are  the  hope  of  the  future,  the 
heralds  and  witnesses,  in  this  late  epoch,  of  the 
Galilean  Gospel  preached  by  Jesus  in  the  dawn 
of  the  Christian  era. 


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